Familiar Spark
by Konsaki
Summary: Cole MacGrath had lost everything; his home, job, best friend... his lover. Holding the Ray Sphere in his hands once more, Cole chooses to sacrifice himself to save everyone from the maniacal Kessler. But sacrifice doesn't always mean the end and is sometimes a new beginning... it's all in what you make of it. This time, it all begins because of a pink haired girl with a wish...
1. A new beginning

"Uhng… Who ran my ass over with the battle-bus…" The gruff groan cutting through the quiet morning air, as Cole MacGrath woke to find himself on a cot instead of the couch in his rooftop hideout. Lowering the hand from his face, he finally took of where he was, the brown haired man found himself in a furnished bedroom. It was a vast step up from the imagined cell his thoughts first snapped to.

Still, he felt like shit, joints aching even as he threw his legs over the side of the cot, the bottom of his sneakers sinking into the plush carpet.

Looking around in the early morning gloom coming in from the window, Cole saw what you'd expect from a bedroom; a table with two chairs; one with his stuff on it, a storage trunk, clothes wardrobe and a double bed. He let out a breath, as he reached over to grab his jacket and courier backpack.

Looking his yellow and white leather jacket, Cole let out another annoyed breath, noting that all the holes and worn spots that had been inflicted to it over the past few weeks. Bullet holes, stabs and cuts, along with scrapes and tears covered his jacket, along with the patches and stitches he'd done to hold it all together.

A soft moan broke the silence, causing Cole to freeze. A quick pulse of electro-sense flashed through the room, showing that he definitely wasn't alone, a person asleep in the double bed.

Oddly, his senses were saying this person, a child, was an 'ally'.

It also showed that there was no electricity within range. It wasn't completely surprising, as parts of Empire City still suffered blackouts, even with him restarting the power stations.

Pushing himself up to standing, Cole shrugged on the jacket and backpack before moving over towards the bed. "Let's see just who you are…" He muttered to himself, seeing more color in the room as the sun's morning light grew stronger.

It was a girl, hair glowing pink in the morning light splayed around her head as she slept peacefully under the covers.

'Okay, so I'm not a prisoner to the First Sons and the girl's friendly.' He thought to himself, rubbing his crew cut before turning to look out the window. 'I've got all my stuff and…' He froze for the second time. "...and I'm not in Empire City."

Out the window, he could see a large courtyard with a stone perimeter wall in the distance, with an actual medieval tower built in. Outside of the wall, he could see trees and hints of a small city off near the horizon.

Cole finally shook out of his shock when he heard a yawn and sheets moving behind him. Turning around, he noted how small the girl was, as she sat up in the bed to rub her eyes but was still relatively tiny.

As she finished rubbing her eyes and yawning a second time, she looked around and noticed she wasn't alone.

Cole expected her to scream in fear after seeing her eyes widening to a comical level. He prepared himself as she inhaled, getting ready to bust out the window to escape. Then, she started squealing like a kid at Christmas…

...in French.

It took a few seconds for Cole's brain to dredge up his old unused language skills, not really having used the language since college. It also didn't help that she was babbling at a mile a minute, though thankfully, she seemed to be repeating herself.

"...did it! Thank you, Brimir! Familiar! I've got a familiar!" She squealed again in joy, freezing immediately when she heard Cole chuckle. Almost like a kid caught in a lie, her smile snapped to a scowl and she glared at him. "What are you laughing at, familiar?!"

The emotional about-face caused Cole to quirk an eyebrow at the girl still in the bed. "You but now I want to know what 'familiar' is."

The girl huffed, crossing her arms over her flat chest. It made it really hard for Cole to peg down how old she was. "You are my familiar and I am your faster. That's all you need to know!"

That set Cole scowling, crossing his own arms. "Yeah? Well, I'm no one's slave, so you better clear this up and fast."

The girl huffed before pointing towards the man standing in her room. "I completed the summoning and you were summoned. I even completed the ritual and that means you're my familiar!"

"Still not making any sense there, girly." Cole replied with a shake of his head.

"Do not call me 'girly'!" The girl snipped imperiously. "I am Louise Françoise le Blanc de la Vallière and you will not speak to me like that, familiar."

"Yeah? Well, my name's Cole MacGrath, girl, and you've got one last chance to speak clearly or else I'm out of here. Why was I brought here and where am I?"

"I just said, I summoned you as my familiar!" The girl, Louise, growled out before waving her arm to the room around her. "And, like every other familiar, you're in your master's room!"

"Yeah, I'm out of here." Cole dismissed the girl's rambling, turning to unlatch the window and swing it open.

"Where do you think you're going, familiar?!" The girl demanded, as Cole already had one leg through.

"To figure out where I am and how to get back." The man replied, fully climbing out and flashing a smirk at the girl just now scrambling out of the bed. "See ya, 'Master'."

He heard the shocked shriek from the girl just as gravity took hold, a quick drop slamming him to the ground below. A few weeks ago, the three story drop would have broke both his legs, but now he just had to stand straight and walk away.

Glancing up, Cole saw the shocked face of the girl poking out the window. Flashing another grin, he waved over his shoulder and walked towards the tower in the distance. Maybe the extra height could give him an idea where he was.

oO0Oo

Not really in a hurry, it was a couple minutes before Cole reached the tower, just in time for someone to exit it and notice him.

"Good morning!" The balding man greeted before blinking in surprise. Cole looked the man over curiously too, considering he was wearing actual robes and carrying a stave… like a younger bald Gandalf.

"Morning." Cole replied with a nod, noticing the man wasn't 'hostile', at least yet. "Name's Cole. You know what's going on here?"

"Oh!" The man had a flash of recognition. "My apologies! I'm Professor Jean Colbert. It's a pleasure to meet you and I'm glad to see you're looking much better than yesterday!"

That nugget of information got Cole's blue eyes to widen. "So, you know what's going on, then." It was less of a question and more a statement.

"Of course." The professor replied with a nod, adjusting his spectacles. "I was there when Miss Vallière summoned you, thought you were looking more… worse for wear than today."

"See, that girl said something about that but what do you mean 'summoned'? Like magic?" Cole asked, quirking his brow in scepticism.

"Of course." Jean confirmed with a nod, though his face gained a focused look as he studied the younger man before him. "Miss Vallière used a magical ritual yesterday to summon a familiar, just like the rest of the students in her year. It's said that the being summoned reflects on the mage that summons it, though… I've never heard of a human being summoned." He ended with another adjustment of his glasses.

"Look, I'm not trying to be rude, but magic doesn't exist. Yeah, I know some crazy stuff's happened in the past few weeks but nothing magical about it." Cole responded, thinking back to everything that happened to Empire City after the Ray Sphere went off and all the Conduits started popping up. Still nothing magical about what happened, though it was more science fiction than real science, if he had to say.

The professor frowned before pointing his staff to the side and shooting a small gout of flame into the air. "Magic exists, thanks to the Founder Brimir. I'm wondering where you came from if you don't believe it exists."

Cole frowned in return but decided against showing his powers. "Fine. Let's say it exists. How about you tell me where I am and how I can get back to Empire City. I've got things that I need to fix there."

Jean's eyebrows rose at that. "I've not heard of an… Empire City, but you find yourself at the Tristain Academy of Magic in the Kingdom of Tristain."

"Tristain? Never heard of it…" Cole muttered, rubbing at a temple. "So, we're not in France?"

"France?"

"Guess not…" Cole confirmed off the professor's confusion. "Whatever. How do I get back to America."

"I've not heard of that place either…" Jean heasistantly replied, though starting to get curious as to where the man before him came from. "Could you point it out on a map if I showed you one?"

"Point it out on a map?" Cole repeated incredulously. "The States is a world superpower, how do you not know about it?"

"I…" The professor started before coughing into a fist. "It is not known exactly where some familiars are summoned from, as some are more banal than others and beneath investigation. Some, though are more… mystical in nature and there are theories that these come from… well, other worlds."

"Another world…" Cole repeated, starting to feel a chill up his spine. "You're telling me this isn't Earth?"

"Well, yes, it is." Jean slowly answered, much to Cole's visible confusion. "Just… maybe not 'your' Earth?"

"Wait. You're telling me that whole 'multiple worlds' bullshit Zeke talked about is real?" Cole responded with a sour look on his face, for multiple reasons.

"It hasn't been proven but it would explain some questions as to where the beings summoned come from." Jean reasoned with a nod.

"So, how do I get back?"

Jean blinked at that. "What?"

"How do I get back? You guys can send me back, right?" Cole asked, just shy of demanding.

Cole's hopes died as the professor just sighed and shook his head sadly. "Unfortunately, I know of no way to… reverse the summoning, and it could be considered heretical if certain parties even heard the suggestion."

"Wait… heretical?"

"Yes." Jean affirmed with a nod, adopting a lecturing pose. "I understand how you might not know yet, but the Church of Brimir holds a vast amount of power, sometimes even greater than the Kingdoms. It wields that power in things involving the Founder Brimir's teachings and, considering he's heralded as the one to spread magic to the human race, the summoning ritual falls under that perview."

"Great… so, on top of figuring out a way home, I've got to worry about the fantasy Inquisition, too." Cole groused under his breath, though loud enough for the professor to hear.

"Not… quite, though not completely wrong either." Jean said, gesturing towards Cole's hand. "If you show me your hand, sans glove, I'll explain what I can."

Cole quirked an eyebrow but did as requested, eyes widening as he spotted the weird tattoo on the back of it. "The hell?"

"Those are Familiar Runes, that both mark the… creature baring them as a familiar, as well as linking them to the summoning mage magically." The professor explained, though understanding the undercurrent of the topic at hand. "Unfortunately, the laws in place consider familiars more as a… companion animal, than a separate entity."

"You're saying I'm just that girl's dog to the law." Cole said with growing disdain.

"Essentially, though… Well, yours is an odd instance, what with you being human instead of an animal, like all other known familiars." Jean replied with another adjustment to his glasses to peer at the runes more closely. "Though… these runes aren't the standard runes."

"So, what does that mean? I'm not bound to that girl?"

"Well… no. You would still be seen as Miss Vallière's familiar by the government and church, but…" Jean paused and hummed, eyes narrowing. "I'm sure I've seen these runes somewhere before and it might change things… though I'm not sure."

"So, what am I supposed to do now?" Cole asked, feeling this guy might be able to help him out somehow.

"As Miss Vallière's familiar, you have permissions to explore the Academy, within reason. If you haven't had breakfast yet, if you head that way to the kitchens and speak with those within, they should provide for you. After that… well, it will take some time to research these runes, so I'd suggest getting to know Miss Vallière and maybe explaining the situation."

"Yeah, already tried that and it didn't go over to well." Cole replied, thinking back on the girl's reaction.

"Hmm… She tries her best but she comes from a proud family." Colbert diplomatically said, trying to ease the easily seen tension. "I can empathise with how troubling this might be for you but successfully completing the summoning ritual could be considered a monumental occasion for her, more so than any other student."

That got Cole to quirk an eyebrow. "Yeah? How?"

"That… well, I can't divulge the full story, I have neither the time nor all the information, but while she excels with the academic side of the coursework, she has… trouble with the practical side."

"You're saying she sucks at magic." Cole summarised.

"Unfortunately correct." Jean agreed with a nod. "The fact that it took her four tries to summon you… And considering all the students from noble families, both great and small, are here specifically how to be mages…"

"She's being treated like the runt by everyone else." Cole finished, when Jean trailed off.

"Indeed." Jean answered with a nod before looking towards the sky. "Unfortunately, I'm needed for a meeting with the Headmaster soon. As I've said, I'll work on researching these runes and try to get back to you. It's an interesting mystery."

"Yeah, I got you, Prof." Looking towards where the kitchens were, Cole nodded. "Food sounds good right about now, anyways."

"Well, then. I will see you around then, Mr Cole." Jean said with a smile, holding a hand out which Cole shook.

"Yeah, you too."

oO0Oo

The late morning soon found Cole reclining under a tree idly peeling a savory orange, still within the Academy walls but far from the main building. Breakfast of oatmeal and warm cider had filled the stomach but he'd snagged a few fruits on his way out.

A short trek through the halls filled with students and feeling like a sideshow reject with all the pointing and whispers had led to Cole's current situation. Actually, everything that'd occured this morning, the solitude was pleasant.

"There you are, Familiar!"

Well, it 'was' pleasant before being shattered by the girl's voice as she stomped towards him. Pulling free another wedge of the fruit, Cole ignored her as she closed the distance.

"Familiar! Where have you been?" The girl demanded imperiously as she got close enough to not be shouting.

Seconds passed as Cole reflected on how long it's been since he'd had fresh fruit. Since that first airdrop, he guessed, where he and Zeke were able to take a few apples before the crowd got too frenzied.

"Do not ignore me while I'm speaking to you, Familiar." The girl's tone changed to a more warning growl. She flinched as Cole jerked his head to spear her with a glare, his blue eyes glowing in the morning light.

"Stop." He ordered the pink haired girl, not raising his voice but still demanding compliance. "My name is Cole and the next time you try to treat me like a slave or a dog, I'll pull you over my knee and tan your ass."

The girl just gapped at the still reclining man, as he popped another orange wedge into his mouth. Then her face grew with indignant anger. "Know your place! I am Louise Françoise le Blanc de la Vallière of the noble House Vallièr!"

"And I don't give two shits about your 'noble family'." Cole shot back, making Louise gape in shock as he spit out a seed. "I'm dealing with you, girl, a child who's yet to reach puberty, not your parents."

"How dare you!?" Louise cried in indignation, rearing back as if slapped. "I'm sixteen years of age, not a child for you to insult!"

"And I'm a human being, not some animal you can control." Cole stated calmly but forcefully. "So long as you remember that, we can talk. Got it?"

"Now listen here! I completed the ritual! I felt the magic working!" Louise declared, placing her hands on her hips with a victorious pose. "You are my familiar!"

"So?"

That brought her aback. "What do you mean 'so'?! You are my familiar!"

Cole stared at the girl for a moment. "So, you ripped me away from my home, to some crazy fantasy land, and just expect me to follow you blindly because… what? Because 'magic' says so?"

"Well… Yes!" Louise answered back, though Cole could see the unsure look in her eyes. Maybe it's because she was thinking of the human slavery part or maybe just wondering if she did something wrong and he 'should' be a mindless slave. He didn't know for sure, but he did know one thing.

"That's retarded."

"I… what?!"

"I said that's retarded." Cole repeated, before standing up and brushing himself off. "And if that's how it's supposed to work, I'm glad you screwed up."

Cole was kind of surprised at how incensed Louise reacted to his last comment.

"I did not 'screw up'!" She yelled him, stomping a foot into the grass. "I studied and memorized the Springtime Familiar Summoning ritual for weeks and practiced reciting the chants to perfection! I did not 'screw up'!"

"And it still took you four tries." Cole added with a chuckle.

"Ragh! You dog!" Louise screamed in rage, flashing a hand forward.

An explosion filled the air, smoke slowly blowing away with the morning breeze to reveal Cole standing defensively, his left hand before him. Louise's eyes widened as she saw the shimmering wall between herself and her familiar.

Her very pissed familiar.

She barely had time to register this fact before the wall dissipated and her wand was smacked from her hand. A moment later, the world blurred till she found herself bent in half, looking towards the grass. Then the hand landed against her rear.

"Ow! Ow! Ow! Stop!" She squealed as the man actually spanked her, trying to squirm away but couldn't. It was over almost as soon as it started though, as he released her and she jumped away, face burning red. "How dare you?!"

"No! How dare 'you'!?" Cole towered over the short girl, looking down at her with disdain. "You're lucky that's all I did! If you're going to act like a child, I'll treat you like one! Especially if you start trying to blow me up!"

Louise just scowled at the man before her, eyes tearing as she rubbed her stinging rear. "For that, no food for two days and you can sleep on the floor!"

Cole just rolled his eyes, leaning over to pick the thin stick of wood off the ground. "Yeah, been there done that." He waved the wand before him, noticing the girl's wide eyes follow it.

"Give that here!"

"No." Cole rejected her order, sliding it into his jacket. "I'll be seeing you around, 'Master'." With that, he turned away towards the nearby perimeter stone wall.

"Hey! Give me back my wand! Familiar, don't you dare walk away from me!" Louise yelled at the retreating man before he reached the wall and started climbing. "Where do you think you're going?! Get back here! Familiar! Give me my wand!"

Cole reached the top of the wall quickly, finding so many handholds it was almost childsplay. Looking over, he waved towards the girl, showing her one last look of her fancy stick before he jumped down the other side.

The last thing he heard was the girl still screaming her head off in impotent rage.

o0O0o

As the minutes passed, Louise slowed down and finally stopped yelling for her errant familiar. It wasn't until the bells started tolling for the start of instruction that the fear really hit her.

"He's not coming back…" She whispered, glancing around her. She let out a breath as she realised that even with her yelling, they were still too far out to gain any attention, any other student in sight worried more about getting towards whatever tower their class was being held in.

A new spike of fear shot through her as the next realisation hit her; she was going to have to complete her classes without her wand...

And a mage without her wand wasn't a mage.

Worrying her lip, Louise glanced towards the Tower of Earth, the location of her first class of the day.

Taking a deep breath, she shook herself. "Okay, I can do this. This is the only class today anyways. Just make it through it and then get the wand back. I can do this!"

It took another deep breath before she trusted her legs not to fold, as she turned and veritably marched towards what felt like her doom.

A few minutes later, she found herself mixed in with the other students, thankful that familiars weren't allowed in this class. It meant fewer questions asked, with answers she didn't want to share.

Slipping into her chair, she folded her hands in her lap as she waited for the woman on the lower dias to start the instruction. Soon enough, the older woman in the purple cloak coughed into her hand, bringing the scattered conversations to a close.

"Welcome back, students. I am Professor Chevreuse and I hope the Springtime Familiar Summoning ritual was everything you hoped for and that you're bonding well with your new familiars." She intoned with a smile, looking at the mixed reactions around the room.

Louise just held what she hoped to be a neutral look, though she felt her stomach twist slightly.

"Now today, we will be covering, what I consider to be, the most important element of magic: Earth." She declared, picking up her wand and saying some words before pointing towards a slab of stone placed on a table beside her. Out of the slab formed multiple spheres of granite, which settled into the forming divot. "The element of Earth is important due to how it governs the creation and manipulation of all matter."

Stepping over towards the table, she picked up the largest sphere, at least three times the size as any other, and placed it on a separate pedestal. "If it wasn't for the Earth spells, our industry and civilisation would fail, as we would be unable to locate and refine all the metals used in items you use every day. Not only that, but buildings would be vastly more difficult to build, if not impossible. Even the farms that provide our food are dependant on Earth magics, from boulder removal to enriching the soil."

"Eventually, with enough skill, an Earth mage can even transmute the elements of earth into rarer materials!" Professor Chevreuse declared with a smile before concentrating and intoning a chant under her breath. Sweat beaded on her brow before she finished and touched the tip of her wand to the stone orb and it gained a metallic sheen, turning to copper.

Taking a breath, the middle aged woman dabbed at her forehead with a kerchief before smiling to the students, identifying the ones specialising in the earthly element by their awe. "As you can see, I've transmuted it from stone to copper. This is the limit of a Triangle class mage, though the few elite mages who obtain Square classification have the ability to transmute directly to gold!"

She allowed the students some seconds to chatter amongst themselves about how wonderful it would be to literally make your own money before dashing that idea. "Wisely, the Royal Family has put strict regulations on the transmutation of gold, to prevent the collapse of our currency. You will cover that at a later date, however."

Indicating the spheres still on the table, Professor Chevreuse smiled towards the class. "Now, today, you will be transmuting these much smaller orbs from stone to brass. Not only is the size of the orbs easier to work with, but brass is a less pure metal, which will make the transmutation process vastly easier for you students."

Louise saw the woman scan the room before settling her eyes on her.

"Miss Vallière, please come down." The kindly woman directed, even as the rest of the class stiffened. Seeing the hesitation in the pink haired girls face, the professor tutted. "Come along, now. It's rather quite simple."

"I… I can't."

Hearing that caused the class to freeze before snickers started breaking out.

"You haven't even tried yet. How do you know you can't?" The woman questioned, a little irritated but still wondering what this was about.

"Because she's the 'Zero'!" A boy called out in answer, causing the room to explode with laughter.

Louise's face lit ablaze with ashamed anger. "Shut up! I don't have my wand!"

The professor's eyebrow quirked at the admission. "And where is it, Miss Vallière?"

Louise mumbled something in shame, not loud enough for anyone to understand.

"Speak loud and clear, Miss Vallière." The woman directed, tapping the podium with her wand pointedly.

"I… My familiar took it."

As expected, the other students burst out into more laughter, causing the small girl to curl up slightly. It was an unmitigated disaster.

"I completely understand." A voice broke through, causing the laugher to die down, though Louise just groaned more and the sound of the Germanian harlot. "Why, my dear flame stole away all my brassieres last night and made a nest of them!"

There was more laughter but some whistling mixed in from some of the boys at her rival's rather riske statement.

"Quiet down! Students, I will have silence!" Professor Chevreuse called out, bringing order back to her classroom. Focusing once more on the young Vallière. "What's done is done, but I expect for you to have your wand for my next class or we will be speaking to the Headmaster. Understood?"

"Yes, Professor." Louise meekly replied, grateful when the woman immediately called up a different student to perform the task.

Even still, she could still hear snickers throughout the rest of class.

oO0Oo

Her bedroom was empty, the evening sun casting the room in a crimson glow.

It still had all the furniture and her things but there was no sign of her familiar or, more importantly, her wand.

The day had been a disaster. The one day that should have been her triumph had been anything but.

"Oh, Brimir… once Mother finds out…" Louise sat down at her desk in a daze, thinking about how her mother was going to react. She'd lost her wand and to her brand new familiar who ran away from it's master.

"She's going to kill me." Louise groaned, leaning forward to thump her head into the desk.

Not counting the morning class, the students had the day to get to know their familiars. She, on the other hand, had ran herself ragged all afternoon and evening just trying to find hers!

"Where in Brimir's name is he?!" She half growled, half whined, tugging lightly at her hair. "I looked all over for him!"

He wasn't in the kitchens, or the baths, or the library or the bell tower… it was like he didn't exist! But, the servants kept pointing her in a direction they 'just saw him' in.

She wondered if it was one giant game to them but not once did a servant laugh at her. The servants just answered her questions and went about their work.

It just felt like she was always barely one step behind the familiar. Such as when she arrived to the kitchen just minutes after he had lunch. One of the cooks pointed to the plate on a small table in a corner, saying he'd just left.

Even that walking flotation device, Kirche, said she'd seen him, after Louise had literally ran into her trying to catch him. Of course, the young Vallière didn't bother to answer the Germainian's questions but quickly moved on.

Louise was tired. Exhausted really.

Letting out a long sigh, the young noble pushed herself out of the chair to gather up a spare set of clothes. After all the running she'd done today, more than she'd done in a long while, she really needed a nice bath.

She just hoped Kirche wasn't there when she arrived…

oO0Oo

Just outside the bedroom window, Cole sat on a small ledge as he listened in on the girl's mutterings.

He knew she had been looking for him all day. It was kind of hard not to know, with how he could sense her as the sole 'ally' amidst a sea of 'neutral' signals.

He twirled the wand in his fingers, flicking it to rotate around his thumb. Of course he tried to use it earlier but it was just a polished stick to the Conduit.

He held it before his face, pondering what he was going to do next. What he 'should' do next.

Fighting back a yawn, he put the wand back into his jacket and figured it could wait till tomorrow. He still had to find that Professor and see if he found anything, anyways.

oO0Oo

Cole shook himself awake as water splashed on his face.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" A young woman's voice cried out, abashed. "I didn't see you there!"

Wiping the water and sleep out of his eyes, Cole scratched at his short brown hair as he noticed the young maid standing nearby, hands to her mouth. "Eh… don't worry about it." Standing up, he stretched his back until it popped.

"If you don't mind me asking, why are you sleeping outside, Mister…?" The maid inquired, gesturing to the servant's clothes washing area in the pre-morning gloom.

"Cole." He answered before cracking his neck. "And you?"

"Oh, sorry! It's Siesta, Mister Cole!" The maid answered with a curtsey.

"No need for the 'Mister'. Just relax, I'm not one of those 'nobles'." Waved off her supplication before looking at the washbasins. "Hey, think you can fill up one of these for me?" He'd do it himself but he didn't see how she'd done it when she woke him.

"Of course! Just a moment." She answered with a smile, moving the square shute to an empty basin before pulling a rope to start the flow of water.

"Thanks." Cole said as he took off his jacket and t-shirt. He noticed the younger woman flush slightly and glance away but he also saw she'd set aside some soap and a washrag. "Thanks, again."

"You're welcome. Though…" Siesta hesitates slightly. "Why are you sleeping outside? Why aren't you in the visitor's quarters?"

"Technically, I'm a familiar to one of those nobles." Cole answered, preparing dunking the rag into the water before realising he wasn't discharging jolts of electricity. Pulling the hand out and putting it back in, his eyebrows rose as he muttered under his breath. "That's interesting…"

It took a moment before Siesta realised what was just said to her. "Oh! You're the one Marian was talking about yesterday!"

"Who?" Cole hadn't heard the name before but started soaping up the rag to start cleaning himself.

"She works on the fourth floor and said a noble was looking for you." The maid replied over the sound of her running clothes over a washboard.

"Yeah, I was staying out of her way. We didn't hit it off, you could say." Cole said with a chuckle before starting to scrub his arms.

"How so?" She asked, glancing towards his bare chest with a mild flush on her cheeks.

"She treated me like a dog and I disagreed with it." Cole replied with a blasee air before starting to scrub at his face.

Seeing him dunk his head into the basin and then shake it clear of water soon after had her giggling at the sight. "I've no idea how she could mistake you for a dog."

Cole chuckled at the joke, rubbing a hand down his face. "Hardy har har." That caused her to giggle even more. "Anyways, after she tried to use magic on me to 'discipline' me, I took her wand and played hide-n-seek with her the rest of the day."

"Oh, dear…" The maid worried, setting aside the cleaned shirt and grabbing another. "I hope you don't get in trouble."

"Eh, she can't do anything without her fancy stick except yell at me and I've already spanked her ass once for treating me like an animal. If she does it again…" He left it unsaid and just shrugged.

"Oh, my!" Siesta looked scandalized. "You didn't!"

"Yup. Right near those trees over there." He affirmed, pointing into the distance.

"You need to be careful." The maid cautioned, looking him in the eyes. "The nobles could have you flogged or worse for something like that!"

"Heh. They can try but I doubt it." Cole dismissed the warning before putting a spare washboard into his bin and starting to scrub his t-shirt.

"If you say so…" She hedged but continued her work.

"Don't worry about it. So, what do you do here, other than wash clothes?"

"Well, since I'm new, I help with the cleaning and kitchens… basically anywhere they need help." She answered, slowly working through the basket of clothes.

"Ah. Always hated being the 'new guy'." Cole commiserate. "Always got the worst jobs."

"Oh, it's not that bad." She smiled at him. "I earn much more than I would at my home village and there's a chance I could find a good husband here."

"So, where's home, then?" Cole asked, rinsing out his T-shirt and setting it aside before grabbing something from her basket. Once he identified the pair of panties, he put them back and grabbed a handful of socks.

Smiling at the man now helping her and giving her some company, Siesta spoke cheerfully. "The Village of Tarbes, a few days travel from here. My parents and siblings still live there."

"Trying to set out on your own, then, huh?"

"A little. Though I'm sending most of my pay back home to help support my siblings." Siesta answered with a smile.

Quirking an eyebrow, Cole reached into the quickly emptying basket. "How many are there?"

"Four sisters and three brothers, with me being the eldest."

"Wow… your parents were busy!" Cole was surprised, having been an only child himself.

"I… I try not to think about that." Siesta responded with a rather fragile smile. Realising that the basket was empty, she smiled brightly once more. "Thank you for the help, Cole!"

"No problem." The twenty-something man replied, pulling on the damp t-shirt. It'd dry on it's own or he could just flash dry it with his powers later. Glancing towards the east and the growing lances of sunlight turning the sky red, he stretched his back again. "Well, I'm going to go get some breakfast before it gets too busy."

"I need to head to the kitchens anyways, so I'll accompany you." The maid said with a smile, though she blinked when he took the basket from her hands. "Thank you!"

"Not a problem. Just put a good word in with the cooks for me." Cole joked with a smirk as they started walking.

oO0Oo

"You really don't have to do this, you know." Siesta mildly discouraged the man holding a tray behind her.

"Eh." Cole shrugged carefully, making sure not to tip the tray. "I've got nothing better to do and you're good company."

Siesta flashed a warm smile before pausing before a door. "Now remember, we're not to be talking out there and just ignore anything they say unless it's a request."

"Yeah, I get it, Siesta. Be seen but not heard." Cole rolled his eyes jokingly with a smirk. "Heck, I'm just going to be following you around and letting you handle them."

"How thoughtful of you." Her smile took a sardonic tinge to it before she giggled. She quickly schooled her features to a pleasant neutral smile as she backed into the door between the servant's section and the dining hall. Cole just pushed in after her, his yellow and white outfit completely out of place for a servant.

Surprisingly, none of the students really paid any attention to him as Siesta started her rounds.

After a few minutes, it actually got quite boring watching the cute looking maid serve the students.

Letting his gaze drift around the room, he idly looked for a head of pink hair, which could have been his 'master'. Now that he was looking, Cole was kind of surprised at how many different colors he found, including greens and blues. It really was a fantasy magical highschool.

'Wouldn't be surprised to see dwarves and elves soon.' He silently snarked to himself as he followed along, carrying bottles of drink for Siesta to select from.

"Watch what you're doing, you imbecile!"

The incensed yell and following silence shot through Cole's ponderings. A young noble was standing before Siesta, who was bowing in supplication.

"My apologies, sir, but your companion bumped my arm." Siesta tried to explain, but Cole could see the panic starting to hit the young woman. Looking towards where the young man was dabbing at his shirt, Cole saw a red stain.

"A likely story, you clumsy cow!" The blonde boy imperiously disregarded her explanation. "I could have you flogged for this!" Causing Siesta's face to go white with shock.

At that, Cole had enough, setting the platter of bottles down and glancing around.

The blonde teenager just opened his mouth to harass Siesta some more when he suddenly found a pie smashed into it.

"Oops. My bad. I slipped." Cole flatly said, not an ounce of apology in his voice. Looking towards the maid, who was gaping at him, Cole jerked his head back towards the kitchens. She nodded and bolted away, holding her skirt hem for full flight.

For the boy before him, Cole saw the young man calmly reach up and peel the plate off his face before softly wiping at the pie. All the while, the silence in the room was waiting on a knife's edge.

"Do you have any idea who I am?" The teenager asked, voice calm.

"Don't know, don't care." Cole replied crossing his arms with a shrug.

Finishing his cleaning, for what he could, he frowned towards the taller man. "I am Guiche de Gramont of House Gramont."

"Cole MacGrath."

Guiche looked into Cole's eyes and harrumphed. "I see you are unrepentant in your transgression."

"How observant of you." Cole commented back with a nod, obviously mocking the boy.

"Very well." Guiche nodded back. "I challenge you do a duel."

A wave of chatter broke out over the waiting teenagers, the young nobles expecting less of a duel and more of a slaughter to soon happen.

"You're shitting me, right?"

"How vulgar, but no, I am not 'shitting you', peasant." Guiche looked like he sucked a lemon having to say that.

"Okay, let's get going. I don't have all day." Cole agreed, pushing by the young noble and heading outside.

"Where are you going, cretin?" The blonde boy asked, confused at where Cole was headed.

"Outside. You challenged me, idiot. We duel outside, right now." Cole answered over his shoulder as he pushed open the door, pausing just a moment with a smirk. "Unless you're scared of a simple 'peasant', that is."

Like any group of boys, they started verbally ripping into the blonde noble as Cole exited the building into the morning light.

oO0Oo

"I give you one chance to kiss my boot and beg forgiveness." The blonde teen offered magnanimously.

"I'll pass on that." Cole rolled his eyes before loosening up his shoulders. "But I'll let you make the first move, since you'll probably need it."

"So be it, peasant." Guiche accepted, pulling a bronze rose from under his coat. Cole narrowed his eyes at it, wondering what it said about the wielder.

"Familiar! What do you think you're doing?!" A female's voice broke through the pre-fight standoff as the diminutive girl pushed through into the ring of nobles.

"I'm about to kill this boy in a duel unless you want to kiss his boot and beg forgiveness for me." Cole answered offhandedly, smirking towards the teen across from him. Waiting a moment for anything else, and finding Louise struck speechless, he nodded towards his opponent. "Waiting on you, boy."

"Come forth, my Valkyrie!" Guiche declared with a wave of his wand. A single petal fell to touch the ground and a bronze statue of a warrior goddess emerged. A moment later, it took a defensive stance with its sword and shield, ready for its master's command.

Seeing Cole raise an eyebrow at the display of magic, the blonde teen smirked. "I give you one final chance to surrender, peasant."

Cole just threw his arms before him, a wave of electromagnetic force flying out to hit the bronze golem with a gust of air. Instead of flying back, it started floating into the air, a blue haze clinging to its curves. The next moment, a humming noise cut thru the silence of the garden before Cole sliced the fake woman in twain with a plasma blade. The Conduit was mildly surprised to find the statue hollow but it explained the lack of resistance.

A second later, gravity took hold once more, the two masses of bronze crashing to the ground once more.

After a few more seconds of silence, Cole dispelled the blade and looked at the shocked nobles. "That it? Kind of… anticlimactic."

"Come forth, Valkyries!" Guiche called out franticly, sweat beading on his brow, as four petals sprouted into four more bronze statues.

Cole had just enough time to acknowledge that the boy at least spread the new golems out, but not quite enough. Taking two steps to the left, Cole shot another electromatic wave, hitting two of the four golems. As their feet lost grip with the ground, he dashed towards the remaining two, one with a spear, the other with a mace.

Dodging a spear thrust by hairs, he ignited his plasma blades and spun, the blades going thru bronze like a hot knife through butter. After literally disarming and disemboweling the moving statue, Cole grunted as the bronze mace slammed into his side.

The impact hurt and rocked his ribs, but it wasn't a five-five-six round punching through him.

Rolling to the side, another flurry of bright blue blades minced the second statue, same as the ones before it. Hearing the loud impacts that heralded the remaining two golems slamming back to the ground, Cole turned about and blitzed the golems as they tried to stand back up.

All in all, it had taken less than thirty seconds.

Taking a breath, Cole stood straight and dispelled his blades once more. "Strike two, boy."

The blonde teen was visibly sweating, the bronze rose in his hand visibly shaking before he thrust it forward once more, petals exploding off it to fall into a pile. "Valkyrie!"

While the previous golems were a respectable six feet, this one was set to be truly massive.

It never even fully formed.

"Grahhh!"

Thunder roiled from the sky, the calm clouds turning dark within seconds.

Then the bolt of judgement fell from the heavens, striking the forming Valkyrie with the fury of the skys. The world turned white as sound had no meaning.

Once Guiche could blink his eyes clear, only a mound of slag bronze remained.

He never even noticed the white ball of energy at his feet until it exploded, knocking the wind out of him and locking his limbs to the ground.

"Strike three, kid."

The words swam into Guiche's addled brain, finally clearing just as Cole's face appeared above him, a grim look on it before a blue blade filled his vision.

"Any last words?"

"W-what a-are you!?" Guiche whispered, afraid to touch the blade not quite kissing his throat.

The older man in the yellow and white leather jacket just looked down on him, as if in pity. "I'm Cole MacGrath… and you're never going to forget it."

"Nooooo!" A girl screamed out, rushing from the crowd to fall beside the prone boy. "Don't kill him!"

Cole just looked at her with apathy before it turned to disdain. "You make me sick. You all disgust me!" He turned his words to the crowd even as he kept his eyes locked on the fallen blonde boy. "It's all fine to throw your weight around and bay for blood, like dogs chasing a fox, but here you are, ready to shit yourselves because the fox isn't as helpless as you thought."

"Cole!"

Hearing his name roll across the courtyard, Cole turned his head slightly to see the pink haired girl standing before the wall of kids scared shitless that they were about to witness one of their own die by a 'commoner's' hand.

"Yeah, 'Master'?"

The girl swallowed at the intense disgust contained in that title. "Cole… Let him go… please." Louise's voice requested, even as it got closer.

"Why should I? If he's man enough to start a duel, he's man enough to finish it." Cole mused, lifting the blade from beneath the boy's chin to float above his eyes.

Worrying her lip for a moment, Louise let out a breath. "Guiche!" Hearing his name shouted, the boy flinched slightly, still looking at the glowing blade above his face. "Surrender to him!" She waited for the boy to open his mouth before interrupting him. "Formally."

Guiche swallowed before locking eyes with the man still standing above him. Opening his mouth, he had to work it a couple times before the words started flowing. "I… I, G-guiche de G-gramont, d-do formally surrender to... Cole MacGrath and humbly ask your m-mercy."

Everyone waited for tense seconds before Cole snorted, dispelling his blade and the bonds holding the teen to the dirt. "You're lucky that she spoke up for you, boy."

With that, the man amongst children stepped away back towards the dining hall it had all started in, the nobles parting like water on the bow of a ship.

oO0Oo

"Thank Brimir you're alive!" A maid missile slammed into Cole, rocking his ribs again. Pulling back, Siesta smacked his chest with a hand, tears in her eyes. "You… You idiot! You could have been killed!" The maid sniffed. "Because of me! I'm so sorry!"

Letting out a sigh as the purple haired young woman buried her face into his jacket, Cole patted her on the back awkwardly. He'd never been good with crying women. "Hey, it's all good. Everything's fine."

He let out another sigh as the girl in his arms just continue to babble apologies, even as he heard the door to the servant's hallway open behind him. Looking over his shoulder, he saw Louise standing there, looking more than a little awkward herself at the situation.

"Hey, Siesta." Cole turned his attention back to the maid still hugging his chest. Putting his hands to her shoulders, he gently pushed her away so she'd look at him. "Everything's going to be alright. Hell, I doubt he even remembers about you after what I did."

"And if he does, I'll talk to the headmaster myself to prevent anything." Louise broke in, getting both the maid and her familiar to look towards her.

"Ah!" Siesta pushed away from Cole before dropping into a curtsey. "Miss Vallièr! Please excuse me!"

"I need to speak with him." Louise told the taller woman. "Bring refreshments to my room."

"At once, Miss Vallièr." Siesta broke away to gather the requested refreshments.

Looking towards to her familiar, who cooly regarded her, Louise took a breath. "Follow me… please."

Nodding a the request instead of an order, the man waved towards the girl. "Lead on."

A few minutes later, he found himself sitting in a chair across the small table from his supposed 'master', in the same room he woke up in yesterday. Louise held a contemplative look on her face as Siesta finished pouring them hot tea and placing small pastries before them. In the center between them lay Louise's wand, untouched since Cole laid it there.

It seemed having something to focus on, other than the duel, had helped calm the maid's nerves. Maybe it was just having some time to decompress, he didn't know.

"Thank you. You may leave us." Louise dismissed the maid off-handedly, staring into her teacup.

Seeing Siesta look towards him with a little worry, he nodded. "Don't worry. I'll talk to you later." She nodded and silently vacated the room a moment later, the door softly latching behind her.

The pair just sat in silence, as the minutes ticked by and the tea turned cold.

"You never answered Guiche."

That wasn't what Cole was expecting. "What?"

"Guiche… when he asked what you were, you didn't answer him." Louise pointed out, looking into his eyes. "You said 'who' you are, not 'what' you are."

Cole just nodded and leaned back, taking a sip of the cold tea before cringing and putting it back. "I'm a Lightning Conduit."

Louise's pink eyes narrowed as she tried to parse that simple answer. "What's a… Conduit?"

"Hell if I know." Cole answered with a shrug. "I just know it's a human with powers, caused by the Ray Sphere blast."

"So… you are human." She saw Cole nod. "But you're not a mage?"

"Nope. Where I'm from, magic's just sleight of hand or mind tricks." He saw the girl let out a relieved breath at that. "Guessing that's against the law or something?"

Louise nodded somberly. "It's heresy to bind another mage to your will." The girl made a sour face but continued on. "It's punishable by death."

"So, you know I'm not a mage but I'm not just a normal person either. What are you going to do now?" Cole cut to the point, leaning forward to plop his elbows onto the table. "Where does that leave us?"

"No matter what we do, you'll still be my familiar in the eyes of the Church and Kingdom." Louise stated hesitantly.

"Screw the church and old farts who think they run things. I'm asking you." Cole replied, tapping the table.

The pink haired girl looked down into her tea once more.

"You are still a familiar and I am still a master." Louise finally stated after a minute past by. She looked back up into Cole's piercing blue eyes and locked with them. "The ritual is already completed and the magic cannot be undone… But you are not an animal, nor a slave."

"Again, where does that leave us? What am I to you?" Cole asked, curious where this girl was going.

Louise licked her lips, clasping her hands hard in her lap. She had the feeling that she had one chance at this. She wasn't getting a third try. "I… I'd like a companion… a friend?"

The knot in her gut twisted as the second went by until the man finally snorted in amusement.

"Hey, I'm Cole MacGrath. Pleased to meet you." He said with a grin, holding a hand out across the table.

She looked from it to his face and back, her lips letting out a ghost of a smile as she grasped it with her own tiny hand. "Louise Françoise le Blanc de la Vallière of House Vallière. The pleasure is all mine."

END OF CHAPTER


	2. Arming up

"Let's make a deal."

Louise blinked at the offer, Cole breaking the silence that had fallen between them. "What kind of deal?"

"Even if we ignore this whole 'familiar' thing, I'm still stuck here and I don't know how things are run, who is who or even how much anything costs." Cole scrubbed his crew-cut hair as he leaned back. "Hell, I don't even know what kind of money you guys use."

"Écu, Livre, Sol and Deniers." Louise quickly supplied, pulling out some coins from a pocket and placing them on the table. She repeated the names, pointing to the coins; gold, a silvery gold, silver and copper.

"Okay, so that's one thing down and a million more I might not know about to even ask and that's my point." Cole waved a hand towards the new currency he needed to know. "So here's the deal; we ignore that I'm your familiar and treat it more like I'm your bodyguard or something. It means I'm working to earn my keep and explains why I'm sticking around you without having to go into the whole 'familiar' thing."

Louise actually gave the proposal some thought. It was more than just that, she knew it was supposed to give them some common ground to work off of. But she'd sat in to her father's dealings with minor nobles looking for loans to start a new venture or adjust their taxes.

"It wouldn't work." She replied with a shake of her head. "You don't have a weapon and the moment you used your powers, it would be obvious you're not a normal sellsword." She cocked her head even as Cole frowned slightly. "Maybe if we said you were an elemental…"

"No. I'm human and I'm not giving that up." Cole tapped the table. "Powers don't make you not human or I might as well start calling you mages 'elves'."

The girl's face shot pale at that before leaning forward in a hurried whisper. "Don't ever call a noble that!"

Seeing the fearful look on her face, Cole guessed this wasn't just a 'nobles are better than you' thing. "Why's that?"

"Elves are heathen creatures who wield inhuman magics! It took a human army over ten thousand strong to defeat a hundred elves, the last time our races went to war!" Louise warned, her face etched with the seriousness of her words. "We're told that should we ever encounter an elf; flee, for your life depends on it."

"Okay, okay. I'll keep that in mind." Cole patted the air for the girl to relax. "But my point stands, I'm just as human as you, so no saying I'm an elemental or anything."

"What about being blessed by one?" The pink haired girl offered, tapping her chin.

"Why are you so hung up on this elemental thing?" Cole asked with some exasperation. "You're sounding like they're super powerful…"

"Because they are! They're more like forces of nature made manifest, or so the books say." Louise cut in, slamming her hands on the table in emphasis. "Your powers could be easily explained by a lightning elemental blessing you or your ancestors! I mean, you said you're a Lightning Conduit, right?"

"Yeah, so?"

"So a lightning elemental gave you your powers. Sure, favors from elementals are rare and blessings almost unheard of, but people can accept it." Louise declared, waving a hand towards him. "You're still 'human' but not a mage, yet it explains your powers in a way people can understand."

"Okay, fine. We'll go with the elemental thing. I still think the bodyguard idea is a good one. I mean, think about it; outside of the academy, it'll explain why I'm hanging around you. I'll also let me look around without raising attention cause I'm just 'making sure everything's safe'." Cole finished with some air quotes, which Louise looked confused at.

She shook her head a moment later and pointed towards her familiar. "You still need a weapon. You can't keep popping out those… blades of light, anytime something happens. It will draw too much attention and questions. Luckily, tomorrow is a free day and we can head into Tristania to find you a weapon. Problem solved."

"Alright, yeah. You're probably right." Cole conceded with a nod. The girl was a native, so probably knew better than him on this. "I get veto power, though, so we get something I can actually use! You're not getting me some giant axe taller than I am."

"Don't be ridiculous!" Louise replied with a derisive snort. "House Vallière may be well off, but my allowance only covers so much!"

Cole let out a chuckle as he leaned back. "Okay, I'm just making sure. Heh, Zeke wanted to make this giant tuning fork thing as a weapon for my powers. I told him I'd look like an idiot swinging that thing around."

"Who's Zeke?" The girl across from him asked, mildly interested as she took a sip of her tea. Cole chuckled at the face she made, her having forgot it'd long since gone cold.

"He… was my best friend. Stuck with me through the disaster that made Empire City a hellhole." Cole answered, looking off into the distance, remembering the good times until he let out a sigh. "Then he betrayed me… Kesler, the guy who caused it all, tricked him into handing over something important. Said he'd give Zeke powers like mine but he lied."

"A betrayer is no friend." Louise said, causing Cole to look at her. She seemed lost in her own thoughts and memories.

"I was pissed as what he did… but I understand why he did it." Cole finally said, letting out another sigh. "He figured that if I was able to do so much by myself, with the powers I'd gained, then the two of us powered up would be double the good, or something." The brown haired man just shrugged. "Instead, Kessler got back the Ray Sphere and I told Zeke to fuck off, as I took the fight to Kessler by myself."

Silence held the room before Cole pushed himself out of the chair. "Look... We'll talk more tomorrow. I need to get some fresh air."

"Wait." Louise said, going to her wardrobe and searching inside it. She eventually found what she was looking for and held a hand out to the man before her. "Here. This is the key to the door. I won't have you sleeping outside like some vagabond. What you do still reflects on me. Please keep that in mind."

"Thanks." Cole pocketed the key with a nod before hesitating. "If that's the case, is that duel going to affect you?"

"I… don't know." Louise honestly answered, cupping her chin in thought. "No one was hurt but I'd expect there to be some questions about it. I'm actually surprised that there haven't been any already."

"Well, we'll jump off that bridge when we get to it." Cole replied with a shake of his head. Opening the door, he paused a moment. "I'll see you around, Louise."

"Until then, Cole." Louise nodded towards the man as he closed the door behind him. Taking a deep breath, the girl considered what she'd do next, noticing the reddening light of evening growing dimmer through the window.

Eventually, she grabbed her stationary supplies and sat back down at the table. She dipped the quill into the bottle of ink and then held it before the paper, as if torn on what to write. Eventually, she began and the words started to flow.

 _'Dear Mother and Father,_

 _The Springtime Familiar Summoning was successful but there are things you should know of my new familiar…'_

oO0Oo

Cole always liked tall places. There was something transformative about being at the highest point around, being able to see the horizon stretching as far as the eye can see. The air seemed cleaner, even here in this new world, as well as quieter.

There was nothing but you and the world.

Cole liked to believe he did his best thinking atop the tallest point he could find. It helped put things into perspective.

Taking a breath of cool night air, Cole's mind mulled over his situation.

He'd been ripped away from home… from Empire City. But… did he really have anything left there? The city was a hellhole, no matter how much he tried to fix things. He was still just one man and Kessler had the First Sons backing him.

And he'd lost so much… He's managed to turn around some public opinion but the 'Voice of Survival' kept broadcasting hit pieces against him. His apartment was gutted by Reapers before he could dismantle the gang of Conduits. Zeke had betrayed him, a mixture of jealousy and 'good intentions'. And… Trish was dead.

"Damn him…" Cole whispered, clenching her hands into fists before letting out a breath. "Admit it, Cole... the only thing you have left to go back to is Kessler…"

The next question was if he could really make a new life here in this new world.

Leaning back, Cole lifted the bottle of wine to his lips and drank. It tasted horrible but the buzz was nice.

He had nothing but the clothes on his back and his backpack. Well, his Conduit powers, too.

Really, now that the whole 'familiar' thing was resolved, Cole had to admit that he wasn't that bad off. In fact, it could have been worse… a lot worse. Like, being on the run, hunted by the Fantasy Inquisition for 'heresy' or some other shit.

Tipping back the bottle again, but he found it empty.

"Damn…" He muttered with a sigh. Taking a deep breath, he looked off into the distance to watch the last bit of glow fade in the… west?

Cole blinked and cocked his head in confusion. Was 'west' a thing in this world? Did this Earth spin backwards instead?

He couldn't help but burst into laughter, amused by such a thought.

Tilting his head back, Cole looked up at the two moons of this Earth. A larger blueish one and a smaller redish pink moon hiding shyly behind it.

"Stupid fantasy world…" Cole muttered before pushing himself up to stand at the edge of the spire that peaked the Academy. Standing there a moment, he took a deep breath…

And then leapt off the edge, letting gravity take hold of his frame before he slammed to the ground below. Standing up from his crouch, Cole stretched out his limbs.

Then he opened his eyes to see a blue haired girl staring at him. Not just a girl but a… dragon?

"Evening." He greeted with a wave, noting the girl held a book in her lap and the dragon was curled around her.

"Hello." The soft voice whispered back, while her familiar trilled as well.

After that, Cole didn't really know what to do. Deciding a girl reading in the dark wasn't his problem, he just shrugged. "Well, enjoy yourself. I'm going to bed."

"Good night." The girl softly replied, turning back to her book.

oO0Oo

Cole stared at the beast before him as it stared back with it's huge eye.

Glancing towards the pink haired teen with him, Cole grimaced. "Really? Don't you guys have a bike or something I could use?"

"It's just a horse." Louise responded with a smirk, directly failing to answer the question. "Surly you know what a horse is."

"Yeah, I know what a horse is. I just never rode one." Cole bit out in irritation.

"It's rather simple." Louise said with a smirk. "Just seat yourself in the saddle and hold the reins like so."

"Says the girl who needed help getting 'into' the saddle." Cole sniped back, causing the girl's face to flush. That said, he put a foot into the stirrup and hauled himself up into the saddle. "Damn this feels weird…"

"You'll get used to it." Louise commented, obviously amused with her familiar's discomfort. Her smirk disappeared when Cole flashed his own back at her, feeling she'd just stepped into a trap.

"I'm not sure I want to get used to a giant beast between my legs… but I'll take your word for it."

"Why you!" Louise's face flared in embarrassment as the she heard the guards cough suspiciously nearby. Lifting her nose, she flicked her steed into a slow trot. "Come along, familiar. We are losing daylight."

"Hey!" Cole yelled at the girl as the distance between them grew. Looking down towards the beast beneath him, he grumbled. "Can't be that hard… Hyup!"

Louise was giggling herself, thinking about her familiar's discomfort about a simple horse. So preoccupied, she was caught unawares as Cole's stallion bolted past and a full gallop, the man screaming bloody murder into the distance.

oO0Oo

"No! You can't murder the horse, you imbecile!" Louise exclaimed for the umpteeth time. "I already told you, it belongs to the Academy! I don't own it and how would you get back anyways?!"

"I'd walk if I had to but I'm not getting back on that monster!" Cole yelled towards the horse who was calmly drinking out of a water troff.

"Just… just leave the damned horse alone." Louise finally said with a tired sigh. "Just follow me and try not to make any more of a scene than you already have. Honestly…"

Cole followed along, but he kept shooting death glares at the beast that nearly broke his backside until it was out of sight.

"If you're going to react like this, I'm seriously considering ever bringing you to the city again." Louise chided the man almost a decade older than her.

"I told you at the start, I've never ridden a horse before!" Cole tried to defend himself but he swore he was walking funny from the saddle and the ride.

"Well, you were going to have to learn sometime." Louise chided to her familiar as she turned a corner. "If it makes you feel better, we'll trade horses for the trip back."

Cole grimaced at the reminder that they'd have to ride the two and a half hours back. "I'll walk."

"You'll do no such thing!" Louise rounded on him, pointing a finger into his chest. "You're the one who wanted to play bodyguard, Cole! You can't do that if you can't even ride a blasted horse!" Turning away, she veritably marched away, Cole's longer legs letting him keep up with little effort. "Now, help me find a blacksmith or some other place to get you a sword."

"Fine." Cole relented with a sigh. "So, what do I look for?"

"Well…" Louise started but paused, a little unsure as she read the notes in her hand. "We should be reaching the crafting quarter soon, so just look out for anything that looks… weapony."

"Weapony... Right." Cole repeated dubiously.

"Shut up and look!" Louise commanded, face red, before someone bumped into her. "Watch it, you imbecile!" The person muttered an apology and continued on.

Right until Cole's hand latched onto the person's arm. "Don't think so, buddy. Hand it over."

The hooded figure froze. "Don't know what you're talking about."

"The money you took, asshat." Cole clarified, squeezing hard. The figure hissed before flinging it's other hand up, a cloud of dust flying into Cole's face. "Gah!"

Breaking free, the figure bolted down the way and turned a corner before Cole could wipe his eyes clear.

Looking to the dumbfounded Louise, he snarled. "Where did he go?!"

"Why bother? He's just a commoner." Louise dismissed the situation as not worth the effort.

Cole smacked his face and drug the hand down. "He took your money!" The girl's face paled as she started patting herself. "Louise! Which way!"

"Th-that way!" She stammered, pointing to where the figure turned.

Instead of following, Cole ran over to closest building and ran up the wall till he could grip the roof ledge. Pulling himself up and over, he looked back down. "I'm going to go catch him. I'll find you later!"

He bolted across the roof, in the direction of where he thought the thief went, ignoring Louise's yells from below. Leaping a gap between buildings, Cole spotted a wire strung across the street ahead of him. Grinning, he hopped atop and slammed electricity into his feet, power sliding across the cable before hopping off the other side.

Pausing, he let out a pulse of electrosense, taking in the sphere of echolocation like information.

"There you are…" He declared with a smirk, spotting the sole 'hostile' blip moving a few alleys away. Pushing off into another run, he noticed the thief wasn't moving. 'Probably counting the loot.'

Running up to the edge of the roof, Cole threw a pulse grenade into the alley ahead. "Surprise, motherfucker!" A concussive discharge of electricity was followed by low moaning, signs his ambush was successful.

Hopping down into the alley, he found the hooded figure latched to the ground with shackles of electricity, the rest of the alley in disarray.

"Let's see who you are, asshole." Cole growled out, pulling the hood back to find a young woman's face. "You choose the wrong people to rob, dumbass."

Patting the thief down, Cole divested her of a pitiful change purse, a ring on a chain and a couple knives. Cole shook his head and cursed. "Fuck… Where is the cash?" Hearing another moan from the prone thief, Cole's lips curled to a scowl.

Finding a water barrel nearby, he dumped a ladle full into her face, causing the thief to sputter awake. "Rise and shine, asshole."

"W-who are you?!" She stammered in pure fright, tugging at her bonds.

"That doesn't matter." Cole growled, grabbing her by her dirty brown hair. "What matters is where my money is. Just know this, we can do this the easy way… or the hard way." Holding up his free hand, he let sparks jump between his fingers.

Sniffing, Cole just grinned as he smelled the thief soil herself.

oO0Oo

Night was encroaching on the capital city of Tristania by the time Cole reconvened with Louise.

"Where have you been!?" She veritably shrieked at him as he jogged up to her.

"I've been busy." The Conduit replied, breathing heavily. "I damn near ran around the entire city chasing down your money!" Stretching out his back, he groaned. "Damn, I need a drink."

"It was just a pickpocket. What took you so long?!" The pink haired girl demanded, stamping her foot in irritation.

"It wasn't 'just a pickpocket'." Cole growled, taking a breath. "I caught her easy enough, it was chasing down the guy she gave the money to."

"So, that doesn't soun-"

"And then tracking down the gambling den he'd given the money to, to pay off his debt." Cole cut her off before continuing on. "Then, once I find the place, I find the thief from already there and once she saw me, she yelled that I was an enforcer for a new family pushing in. That's when the bouncers jumped me."

"I'm still not seeing what took you so long." Louise stated, knowing how strong Cole was from his duel with Guiche.

"Yeah, I figured it would be just another fight, too." Cole agreed rubbing at his left shoulder. "That's when they pulled out pistols and started shooting me."

Louise blinked at that. "Shooting at you, you mean."

"No." Cole pointedly looked into her eyes seriously before pointing out a new bullet hole in his jacket. "They shot me."

"Okay… but I'm assuming since you're fine that you won handily and then you found the money?" Louise asked hesitantly.

"Yeah, I found the money." Cole sighed, reaching into his jacket and passing over a pouch.

Louise opened it and her eyes widened. "This is more than-"

"Yeah, I figured they owed me for the effort." Cole answered with a tired grin, shrugging his shoulder to send his courier bag clinking. He frowned a moment later. "Of course, then the cops started raiding the place and I had to escape them, too."

"Oh, Brimir… please tell me we're not about to be arrested by the City Watch." Louise cried out in dismay, palming her face.

"Nah, I'm pretty sure I got away… though, I think we should stay away from the bar district… or whatever it's called, for a while." He assured her with a sigh, rubbing the back of his neck. He froze as he heard chuckling… and not from his pink haired companion. "Who's there?!"

Louise just groaned into her hands, muttering something unintelligible.

The chuckling grew to full on entertained laughter, allowing Cole to hone in on the origin. "Is that sword… laughing?"

"Yes… and it won't shut up." Louise complained, glaring at the confused man over her fingers. "He keeps yammering on and on… and then there's the vulgar jokes!"

The laughter cut off with an offended sniff. "I'll have you know, the old boy loved those jokes."

"For the love of Brimir, shut up!" Louise rounded on the sword, to point at it.

Cole just sighed, shoulders drooping in exhaustion. "Of course it's a talking sword. Why wouldn't it be."

"Oh, hey! You must be my new partner!" The sword declared, popping out of its scabbard on its own. "Come pick me up so I can get a look at you."

"Why did you get a talking sword… No, wait. 'How' did you get a talking sword?" Cole ignored said sword to ask the still incensed girl. "I was still tracking down the money…"

"It's all your fault." Louise said, starting at a whisper and growing stronger with each word. "I started shopping around but they all kicked me out. Each and every one, once they found out I didn't have any money on me!" An inarticulate whine escaped her throat. "I've never been more embarrassed! They treated me like a common street urchin!"

She stomped up towards her familiar, glaring up at him, breathing heavily. "Then… then I enter the one containing 'him' and that fool blacksmith shows me 'his best sword'..."

"And she sucked it up like a who-" The rest was muffled as Louise slammed it back into the scabbard with a growl.

"Then this rusty piece of… scrap metal starts laughing his head off!"

The sword managed to pop free slightly. "She said head! Hah!"

"Shut up!" Louise screamed slamming it back closed, breathing heavily. Taking one big breath, she held the sword closed this time. "Anyways… The smith found out I didn't have any money and… inflicted this punishment on me before telling me to get out."

Cole blinked at that. "Wait… he found out you were broke and… gave you a sword."

"Cursed me with this sword! I've been stuck with that… thing for hours!" Louise insisted before throwing the sword at the yellow clad man before her. "And now he's yours! Enjoy the headache!"

The sword popped out of the scabbard again. "Hello, partner! Nice to meet you!"

"Uh…" Cole wasn't so sure about the sentiment, though the sword started humming in concentration. "What?"

"Heh… You're going to be real fun to be around, partner, I can tell right now! And you've got a little cutie for a mistress, too! Good job, partner!" The sword exclaimed, jumping around in the scabbard.

"It's your job to keep him silent, familiar." The pink haired girl directed before letting out a tired sigh. "Let's get going, Cole."

"Back to the Academy?" Cole asked, really not looking forward to a long horse ride in the dark.

"No… we're going to find an inn, sleep and forget this day ever happened." Louise answered tiredly, trudging towards a respectable inn she actually knew the location of.

"Oh, that reminds me of a good joke! A priest, a maid and a parakeet enter a tavern..."

"Shut up, you stupid sword!"

oO0Oo

Cole shut the door to his bedroom with a tired sigh, the hotel room thankfully having a lightswitch like back on his Earth. The room was actually similar to Louise's room back at the Academy, though this one had a private bath instead of a public one.

"What a day…" Cole breathed out in exhaustion, slinging his backpack to the floor.

"Hey!" The sword stuck halfway into it complained as it landed. "You should treat your weapons better, partner!"

"Oh, yeah… the talking sword." The Conduit groaned, reaching down to pick it up and prop it up in the provided chair.

"I do have a name, you know." Cole raised an eyebrow at the annoyed voice coming from the weapon. "It's Derflinger!"

Cole just groaned again, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Look, sorry, but could I just call you Derf? I'm gonna bite my tongue if I try to say the full thing right now."

"Sure, partner!" The sword agreed happily. "You're not the first person to call me that!"

"Thanks, Derf." Cole said as he stretched out, his back popping with his twists. "Damn… I feel like an old man."

"How old are you? You don't seem old but I guess you could be one of those 'ageless' beings like them elves." The sword mused.

"I'm only twenty five, Derf." Cole answered before brightening up as he reached into his backpack and pulled out a bottle of amber liquid. "Yeah! Just what the doctor ordered!"

"Oh, pour me a little, would you, partner?" The sword rattled in its sheath.

"Sure but… can you drink it?" Cole obliged but was curious how a sword would imbibe the bourbon.

"I like the smell!" Derf cheerfully replied, actually making sniffing sounds as Cole placed a partially filled snifter on the table before the sword. "Ah… good stuff, partner!"

The blue eyed man just leaned back in the other chair with a chuckle. "Wish you could taste it."

"Nah. I'll leave the messy eating and shitting to you living folk." Derflinger declined with a quick laugh, Cole joining in with a salute of his snifter.

The two sat back to enjoy the taste and smell of the drinks respectively for a while before Cole reached over and extinguished the lights.

"Trying to set the mood, partner? Sorry to tell you, but I'm not that kind of sword!" Derf cracked out, getting a chuckle from his new partner.

"Nah, just don't like to drink in the light." Cole explained, refilling his glass. "Got used to sitting on the roof and enjoying the night."

"Ah." Derf made an understanding sound.

The minutes passed, Cole refilling both his glass and adding a little more to Derf's, much to the sword's pleasure.

"Hey, Derf, got a question for you."

"Go ahead, partner!" Derf happily engaged the starting conversation.

Cole shook his head before taking another sip of the aged bourbon. "So, you're a magical sword."

"Correct."

"They're usually rare, right?" Cole asked, setting his elbows onto the table as he leaned forward.

Derflinger hummed to himself in thought for a moment. "Yes and no, I guess."

Cole quirked an eyebrow. "Care to explain?"

"Well, it's all about what you think a magical sword is, partner." Derf replied with a wiggle. "If you're talking about any blade with a 'don't dull' spell thrown on them, you could almost trip over them going to the latrine! If you're talking about swords like me…"

Cole waited a moment after the talking sword trailed off, making an assumption. "So, I gotta ask, Derf, why did that guy basically throw you at Louise? Shouldn't you be super expensive or something?"

As the seconds passed, Cole wondered if he'd stumbled on a taboo topic for the living weapon. Eventually, the sword spoke up. "It'll be easier to show you, partner. Why don't you draw me and look for yourself."

Shrugging, Cole set down his glass and grasped the sword and sheath. A quick tug pulled the blade free with a slight grinding sound that made Cole's teeth tingle. What he saw made his mouth fall open.

Derf was covered in rust and stains.

"I thought you were magic." Cole wondered, rolling his wrist to see all the damage.

"I 'am' magical, partner. How else would I be talking to you." Derf replied with a chuckle, before humming. "And you've got some serious power to yourself as well, partner! It's making my handle tingle!"

Cole wouldn't be distracted, though. "Seriously… I figured a talking sword would have a… anti-rust spell on it or something."

"I do have a cleaning enchantment, partner." Derf replied, shocking the man holding it. "But when you're left in a lake for years, it can only do so much!"

"Wait, you were left in a lake? How? Why?"

"The guy using me pissed off a water elemental and caught a bad case of death." Derf joked, chuckling to himself. "So I got stuck in the mud and the muck for years… still don't know how long but eventually some girl found me and I started changing hands till I got into yours."

Cole's eyebrows raised at that chain of events. "And none of them realised you were magical, with you talking and all?"

"Well… after so long stuck in that lake, I just sort of… fell asleep. I only just woke up when the girl found me, and what a set of knockers she had, but I was just waking up, you understand! You try waking up in an instant after being asleep for centuries!" Derflinger defended himself indignantly.

Cole just stared at the blade, trying to rationalise everything he'd just heard. "You're telling me you're a centuries old blade and some lady pulled you out of a lake?"

"That's right!" The sword cheerfully agreed before it found itself placed flat on the table. "What's the matter, partner?"

"I'm 'fantasy'ed' out. I'm going to bed." The Conduit answered, shucking his shirt and pants before flopping down onto the down double bed.

"Sleep well, partner!"

"Night, Derf."

Minutes later, snores drifted through the silence.

"God damnit…" Cole groaned, pulling himself out of bed to pull his pants back on. "I'm not dealing with this shit tonight."

oO0Oo

"I can't believe you!" Louise cried out in incredulity. "I paid good money for that room and you leave it to the sword?!"

Not bothering to block his yawn, Cole cast a baleful look towards his energetic companion. "One, who got the money that paid for the room?" The pink haired girl's mouth clicked shut with a flush on her cheeks. "Two, Derf snores."

"Terribly sorry, partner!" Derf's pommel rattled from across the room. "It's just been so long since I've slept in the nude!"

The pair ignored the blade as Cole let out a sigh, standing there in his boxers as a seamstress ran a tape measure across different parts of his body. "Why are we doing this?"

"Eventually, after a course in etiquette if I have anything to say about it, you will be introduced to my parents as my bodyguard." Louise explained, holding up different samples of cloth to compare against the near nude man. "And I will not have your first impression being that of some vagabond I hired out of desperation."

"No offense, partner, but your gear is looking a bit… traveled in." Derf apologetically agreed, sitting in a chair with a cup of tea before it.

Cole had to admit his sword was right… and how weird that statement was. "Okay, yeah, I could use some new clothes but I'm not dressing up like… like that pretty boy was."

"Guiche?" Louise asked before barking out a laugh. "Don't be ridiculous! You'd ruin such an outfit in days and I'd doubt you'd even know how to even dress in it."

"Okay, you're probably right about the first thing." Cole conceded but then gave the pink hair girl a look. "But I've dressed up before."

"With or without the assistance of a woman?" Louise inquired with a smirk. When Cole was silent, Derf let out a laugh from his chair. "Be grateful, as I'm commissioning a single dress uniform for you to appear professional in. The rest will be more along the style of your current outfit."

Cole glanced down at himself and then back at the year almost a decade younger than him. "A pair of boxers? Sorry, Louise, I don't like you that way."

Derflinger almost rattled himself out of his chair with laughter while the seamstress did her damn best to pretend to ignore the byplay between her customers. Louise, on the other hand, almost blew her stack. "No, you uncouth… man! The outfit you showed up in!"

"She wants you in your birthday suit, partner!" Derf cut in before continuing his rattling laughter.

"That's it!" Louise cried out, wheeling on the talkative piece of magical steel. "Alright, you rusty piece of scrap! If I buy you the best maintenance kit money can buy, I want you to swear on Brimir's name that you'll stop making lude joke, remarks, etcetera while in my presence!"

"But the old boy loved those…" the sword muttered lowly, though Cole still heard it.

"What was that? You want to rust to pieces?" Louise growled, hands planted on her hips and tapping the her foot in irritation.

"Only if it has those Romalian Holy Oils that smell like roses!" Derf quickly replied, rattling around in excitement.

"Deal!" Louise exclaimed before stomping over and pulling the sword before her face, spearing it with a baleful glare. "But if you renege on this, I'll make sure the only oil you'll ever see again is from fish!"

Derf gasped in shock. "You wouldn't!"

"Try me and find out." Louise growled back before releasing it back to the seat.

Cole just rolled his eyes at the entire thing, even as Derf started muttering about being cleaned.

"You may redress yourself, sir." The seamstress finally said before excusing herself into a back room. Part of Cole wondered if it was to get away from the crazy people or just to laugh her ass off without offending Louise.

"Well, hurry up get dressed. We've a cleaning kit to shop for and then the ride back to the Academy. I'd like to get back with enough time to study for tomorrow's instruction." Louise directed with a wave of her hand.

"Yeah, yeah." Cole rolled his eyes as he started dressing. If Louise didn't care about being in the room with him, why should he. It wasn't like he was naked. "But if that monster goes crazy again, I swear I'm going to fry its ass."

"For the final time, you are not murdering the damn horse!"

A thunk sounded as Derf finally hit the floor, his laughter echoing through the room.

END OF CHAPTER


	3. Agnes Appears!

After the return from the capital city of Tristania, Cole found himself with quite a bit of free time on his hands. Especially so on the next day, when Louise resumed her instruction in magic and 'things every noble should know'.

When he asked her what he was supposed to do during the day, she'd given him an irritated offhand reply. "Why don't you read a book or something? You can read, can't you?" Realizing that was yet another thing he'd need to figure out, Cole resolved to do just that.

So, with that being said, Cole found his ass planted in a plush reading chair in the Academy library, the days passing by as studied with more diligence since his first month of college.

The Louisiana born Conduit had expected more difficulty learning to read Tristanian text but it really did seem like the French from his world, barring a few idioms and technical terms he'd not understood. Of course, it wasn't completely problem free but with all the French he'd had to speak since arriving on 'Bizzaro Fantasy Earth', his brain was primed and ready to shake the rust off his reading skills.

Thus, he was left to reading the joys of ' _Histories of Tristanian Noble Families: Fifth Edition_ '.

"Here you are, Cole." Siesta said, placing a setting of hot tea before him.

Though, not alone apparently.

"You didn't have to do this, but thank you, Siesta." Cole accepting it with gratitude.

"Yeah, really appreciate it!" Derf agreed as Siesta placed another steaming cup before the seated sword.

Sitting down across the table from him, the purple haired woman smiled warmly. "I know I didn't but I figured you'd enjoy something to drink, since you've been cooped up in here so much." She peered at the book laid on the table between them. "What have you been reading?"

"Today, it's skimming through the noble families of Tristain." Cole answered, tapping the large tome. "Yesterday, it was the general history of Halkegenia since Brimir." The maid just blinked at him, like she didn't know what she was looking at. Cole just nodded in understanding. "Yeah, really entertaining stuff but I needed to get at least some basic understanding of this world."

"Heh, you should hear him muttering to himself about it all. It's all 'Reginald the Third went mad and chased pixies into the night, never to be seen again' or 'Beatrice married into such and such family, leading to a treaty being signed but then tragically threw herself off a balcony'." Derf stated, mimicking an instructor's serious voice before letting out a laugh. "Heh, I'm surprised partner hasn't thrown himself off a balcony yet!"

"Rather throw the book off it, Derf." Cole countered with a grin before cracking his neck. "Just glad there's not a test on this stuff, cause most of it's trivial information, like Derf was getting at." He explained for Siesta's sake.

Siesta, for her part, just giggled behind a hand at their antics. "Well, good luck but I'll stick to my own books, thank you."

Cole leaped at the distraction, leaning back to sip at the warm tea. "So, what kind of books are you into, then?"

"Um… well, you know…" The young woman hesitated, diverting her eyes.

"Heh." Derf chuckled. "Sounds like she's into 'those' stories, partner."

Cole could see that there was an undertone but couldn't identify what Derf was alluding to. "Yeah? And what are 'those' stories?"

"Ah, hero stories!" Siesta cut in, face turning pink as she leaned forward intently. "Where the hero comes in and rescues the damsel in distress!"

"And then takes her somewhere private for some 'alone time', if you get my drift." Derf tacked on, getting Seista's face to go nuclear and sputter weak denials.

"Hey, that's fine." Cole consoled his friend, reaching over to pat her on the arm. "I'm not going to judge."

"Siesta! There you are!" An older female's voice cut through the conversation as a maid with greying hair stepped around a bookcase. "You can cavort with your paramour on your own time! Now, come with me, we're needed at the Tower of Water. Some fool child went and flooded a lecture hall."

"Yes, ma'am! On my way, ma'am!" Siesta shot to her feet, face red as a tomato as she bowed slightly before turning towards Cole. "I'll see you later, Cole."

"Now, Siesta!" The older maid directed, marching them both out of the library.

"So, that happened." Derf commented as Cole just shook his head with a chuckle.

"I saved her." The brown haired Conduit simply explained before draining the cup in his hand.

"Oh…" Derf let out a sound of understanding before chuckling. "You're her knight and she wants to 'thank' you."

"Maybe…" Cole said with a wistful look on his face as he stood to look out a window. "I think she just wants a happy ending to the story." Putting his hands on the sill, Cole sighed. "Problem is, there are no happy endings… just different levels of failure."

"Partner?" Derf asked out in concern.

"Hell came to Empire City, a city of almost a million people, because someone hired me to deliver a package. That was my job. It could have been a book, a toy, some paperwork… It was a bomb… one that murdered thousands and... unlocked my powers."

Letting out a sigh, Cole moved back to the table and dropping back into the plush chair. "After that, it was always winning a fight but losing the war. No matter how much I accomplished, it was always measured by what I lost." He sighed as he looked into the empty cup before him. "Then, Kessler, the man behind it all, gave me a sadistic choice: save Trish, the woman I loved, or ten doctors the city desperately needed to treat all the wounded. Save Trish, the city suffers; save the city and Trish dies."

"What'd you do, partner?" Derf asked, its voice nary a whisper in respect for the gravity.

Cole wished he'd had a hard drink on hand. "I tried to save Trish."

Derflinger let out a hum, though Cole thought it wasn't being judgmental.

"I know it was selfish, but I didn't know any of those doctors… he'll for all I know, they could have been random people Kessler kidnapped to fuck with my head." His fist slammed down onto the table, rattling the teacups. "The bastard lied to me! He swapped Trish with one of the ten! I saved a random woman and Trish died!"

Cole took a breath, leaning back to look at the ceiling. "The bastard even called me up to say 'how disappointed he was in me', like he was my fucking father or some shit." A vindictive chuckle escaped the man as a rueful smile crossed his lips. "Oh, but I got him back! I stole the thing he'd been working decades on, the Ray Sphere, the thing that started it all… and I destroyed it!"

Then, the emotion left him with a breath, leaving Cole empty. "But even then… I lost."

"How so, partner?" Derf asked, interested in his wielder's thoughts.

"I'm here." Cole answered with a shrug. "I finally won one over on Kessler but I lose my life… my world." He shook his head with a dark chuckle. "Even when I win, I lose."

"But you've gained me… and your little master… and that cutie maid." Derflinger countered somberly. "Take it from a being so old that we'd be here all night for me to say how many father's father's father back it was that I was made, that it's not the hand you're dealt that matters… it's what you do with it. Heh, and long as you're still in the game, you can keep on playing. You only lose when you're dead!"

Cole let out a breath, massaging the bridge of his nose. "Yeah, I get that, Derf… I really do. But I want to win, really win, sometimes too."

"Well, 'winning' for you is going to be different than anyone else." The sword mused with a hum. "For me, winning is being used by a partner and being cleaned and oiled regularly."

Cole snorted at the not so subtle hint. "Okay, I get it. I'll work some more of that rust off you."

"See, that's what I like about you, parner!" Derf stated with cheer as Cole picked him up and slung him across his back. "We're both simple beings with simple needs! There's nothing a little oil and rubbing can't fix!"

Cole couldn't help but laugh, Derf's accompaniment echoing down the halls.

oO0Oo

"Oh, yeah… that hits the spot…" The blade sighed in contentment as Cole rubbed the bare metal in small circles with a coarse oiled rag.

"Heh, you might want to tone it back, Derf. Someone might get the wrong idea." Cole joked, flicking off a bit of rust that flaked free.

"You just don't understand, partner. It's like having an itch you can't scratch but it's lasted for years!" The sword complained before moaning in relief. "It feels so goooood!"

Cole just snorted in amusement, taking the time to add more oil to the rag. It was good smelling oil, too. Smelled like roses and seemed to be everything Derf had asked for.

"I think I'm starting to see steel here under the rust. I guess you're really a sword after all, Derf!"

"Say what you want but you'll be swearing by my edge once you use me, partner! Mark my words!" The blade vibrated slightly in his lap, a towel protecting Cole's legs from the oil and detritus. "People used to see my steel flash in the sun and whisper 'Oh, my! That's the legendary blade Derflinger!', partner!"

"And now they'll see your steel and say 'Oh, my! That's Derflinger, the blade that never shuts up!'" Cole ribbed the weapon, rapping the handle lightly.

"That's just cruel, partner!" Derf responded with an offended sniff before moaning again as his wielder started rubbing it with more oil. "But I forgive you! Oh, yeah, right there!"

"Oh, dear. I hope I'm not interrupting anything." A man's voice broke into the byplay, causing Cole to look towards it.

"Hey, Prof! How are you doing?" Cole grinned towards the older man, who smiled back in return.

"Very well, thank you." He answered before leaning forward to look at the sword in Cole's lap. "It seems you've got quite the project on your hands there, Mister Cole."

"Heh, forget the Mister, Professor, and it's actually going a lot faster than I thought it would. You should have seen him when I started!" Cole replied, lifting the blade up for the balding academic to inspect easier.

"I told you I had a cleaning enchantment, parter." Derflinger chided lightly, to Jean's surprise.

"How interesting! It's nice to meet you!" Jean Colbert bowed slightly to the blade.

"Same to you! Always nice to have people recognize my greatness!" Derflinger wiggled in response.

"Watch out, Derf, your modesty is showing." Cole wryly warned, getting a chuckle out of the professor.

"Very interesting, indeed." He mused with a shake of his head before taking a more serious countinance. "With that said, could I have a few minutes of your time, Cole?"

"Sure. Got nothing going on right now." The Conduit replied with a shrug, gesturing towards a bench across from him. "What's on your mind?"

"Well, first off, I unfortunately have to tell you I've yet to find any information on those runes. I've started my research but it is slow as I only have the image of the runes to go off of. It's an interesting mystery and I can't wait to find out what they mean!" Colbert mused out, taking off and cleaning his glasses.

"Oh, they mean partner's the Gandálfr." Derflinger stated, leaving both men struck silent.

After a few moments, Cole lifted the sword before him with a confused look on his face. "What's a Gandalfr?"

"Gandalfr." Derflinger corrected cheerfully. "And you're the Gandálfr."

"Wait, I think I've heard that term before…" Colbert mused to himself, rubbing his chin in thought. "This should assist my research greatly!"

"That's great but why don't you tell us more, Derf? Don't leave us hanging here like that." Cole said with a frown.

The blade just wiggled in his hand, its form of a shrug, Cole guessed. "Couldn't tell you, partner. I might be a magic sword but I'm a sword, not a magic tome of knowledge. You forget things over the years."

"That's more than fine." Colbert responded with a grateful nod before looking to the man holding the blade. "That's not the only thing I've come to speak with you about anyways."

"Really? What else is on your mind?" Cole set the blade back down on his lap, giving the professor his full attention.

"It's actually about the duel you had with Mister Gramont earlier last week." The balding man said with a disappointed sigh. "While I thank you for leaving the young man unharmed, I do wish you will avoid instigating any more duels with the students. We, the Headmaster and I, know about and spoke with Mister Gramont about his actions against the school staff, so know his actions weren't appreciated either."

"Okay, I get the message. I'm not looking for fights…" Cole defended himself, holding his hands up.

"I understand but I'm obligated to give the warning as an instructor of the Academy." Colbert replied with a warm smile, showing no hard feelings. "That said, I believe it was a valuable lesson for these young nobles."

"Yeah, don't bite off more than you can chew or you'll choke on it." Cole chuckled along with the professor.

"Too true! But I think that lesson could be good for us to remember as well." Colbert cautioned before standing with a smile. "Well, that said, I think I'll go look into this Gandalfr lead our steely friend has given us."

"Sounds good. See you around, Professor."

oO0Oo

"What the hell?" The Conduit muttered in confusion, looking into the room… Louise's room.

It was completely empty.

All the furniture was missing, the two paintings on the wall were gone and even the rug on the floor as removed, leaving bare tile beneath his shoes.

Furrowing his brow, Cole let out a pulse to see if he could sense where Louise was and raised an eyebrow at the return. "What's she doing down there?"

Stepping back out of the empty room, the Conduit traversed down to the second floor and traveled almost to the other side of the building before arriving outside the room Louise was in. Looking around the hall, Cole didn't see any distinguishing names or markers on the doors. Giving up on the guesswork with a shrug, he reached up and knocked on the door.

"Enter!" Louise's voice called from within.

The fact that she didn't sound stressed put Cole more at ease, as he opened the door to find a room fully furnished with everything missing from Louise's room upstairs.

Actually, his cot was missing. Looking around, he couldn't see it folded up anywhere either.

"Louise, what's going on?"

Looking up from her writing at the table, Louise smiled slightly at the sight of her familiar. "Ah, there you are. I figured you'd find me eventually."

"No, seriously, what's going on?" Cole asked while still looking around at the new room. With everything in a different position than in the previous room, he'd not noticed but this room had a second door built into it.

"I was informed by Professor Colbert that he and the headmaster had decided it was… unrecommended that we share the same bedroom, even though we are Master and Familiar." Louise started explaining with a slight nod at the end. "While I don't disagree that you deserve your own space, I objected on the grounds that we shouldn't be separated as you were to act as my bodyguard."

"Louise… please just get to the point… in plain language." Cole urged the young woman, having realised that the young noble tried to use 'diplomatic' language when nervous but not upset.

Frowning slightly at the man before her, Louise nodded nonetheless. "They moved us into a visiting noble quarters, one designed for short term stay. Through that door is the servant's room for nobles who bring their own handmaid or butler. That is your new bedroom." She pointed towards the second door Cole had noticed earlier.

Moving towards it, he opened the door to find a smaller bedroom furnished with a full sized bed with captains drawers under it, along with a small table and chairs. There was also a second door, which he assumed lead back out into the hallway.

It was smaller than the old room, but without all of Louise's furniture, Cole had more room to himself. Looking back into the room Louise was staying in, he figured it was around the same size as the previous on, if you ignored the extra 'servant access door'. All in all, it was win/win.

"This isn't normal." Cole didn't ask, but more stated.

Louise nodded, indicating towards the paper before her. "Correct, which is why I'm writing to my parents to let the know about the change in quarters. While I believe Professor Colbert believed what he was saying, and I agree you deserve your own room… I don't know Headmaster Osmond very well, and this could be him trying to gain favor with my family."

"So better to let them know in case he does." Cole nodded, agreeing it was a good idea to keep family informed. It was also good incase her parents came to see her. He'd figure having a grown ass man living in their daughter's bedroom wouldn't go over well at all.

"Yes, my thoughts exactly." Louise nodded, laying down her quill and tapping the drying paper. "In other news, they've also delivered your new clothes. So, while I'm writing this, please go get changed into your uniform. I would like to see how it looks." Louise directed, waving a hand towards his new room.

Cole just sighed with a nod. "Okay, okay… I'm not going to wear it all the time, though."

"Nor do I expect you to, Cole, but it will be worn for special occasions, such as the Familiar Presentation ceremony next week."

Entering his new bedroom, Cole actually had a feel for how much space it really had. If he had to hammer it down, it felt like the amount of space you'd have in a cheap hotel, sans bathroom. Still better than sleeping in the park, like he'd been doing the last few days in Empire City.

Not seeing any uniform, he started opening the drawers under his bed and found neatly folded clothes. It was easy to tell which was his 'uniform', what with it being black slacks and black shirt with silvered buttons. Taking off his clean but worn clothes, he redressed in the uniform, latching the pants with a grey leather belt with a silver buckle.

That's when he ran into a problem. "Hey, Louise, should have gotten new shoes with this uniform, cause my old one's don't work."

"What do you mean? I commissioned new boots for you!" Louise answered in an irritated tone.

Cole looked around the room once more. "Well, I don't see them."

"Those fools… They're in here, Cole! They put them with my footware." Louise answered with a sigh. "The other side of the door." She directed once Cole entered her room, though she started looking critically at him. "Not the most dashing but we're going for respectable bodyguard, not Captain of her Royal Majesty's Guard."

Cole just snorted in amusement, trying to picture himself wearing a full regalia with a chest covered in medals or some shit. "Yeah, not my thing, so thanks for that." Once he reached the indicated shoes, he raised an eyebrow at the boots he saw next to what was obviously Louise's shoes and boots.

"Oh, stop looking like that and put them on." Louise directed with a roll of her eyes audible in her voice. "I had them specially made with your climbing antics in mind, so stop worrying."

Sitting on the other chair at the table, he slid them onto his feet and tied the laces. "Huh, they fit nice, so far."

"I should hope so, considering that they spent all morning measuring you specifically for this uniform. I'll not have you in an ill fitting outfit before my parents or the Princess!" Louise proudly stated, standing from her seat.

Standing up, Cole tapped the toes of the boots onto the floor before hopping a couple times. "Huh… they feel pretty good."

"You can test them out later." Louise chided before looking her familiar over, tapping her pursed lips. "I guess she was right."

"Who was right?" Cole inquired, hearing the girl's whispered comment.

"The seamstress." She replied, moving towards her wardrobe. "She said a person like you needed a coat to look presentable."

Cole quirked an eyebrow as he saw the leather jacket she pulled out. It was primarily made of blue tinged white leather, with black stripes running up the sides and down the inner arms. It almost looked like the same length and style of his old yellow jacket, too.

"Well, quit staring at it and put it on." Louise huffed, tired of holding it up. She moved to sit back down as her familiar followed her direction, crossing her legs in thought. "I have to admit, it makes you look actually respectable."

Cole finished adjusting the jacket sleeve and pulled down on the bottom. "Little stiff but it'll soften up, I guess."

"You really should have let me get you a hat. It would really pull the outfit together." Louise commented before taking a sip of her tea.

"No hats. I'd lose it within seconds." Cole rejected with a roll of his eyes. "I already told you this. Me and hats just don't mix."

Louise dismissed the statement with a wave of her hand. "Yes, yes. You did say that. Anyways, we need to discuss what you are going to do for the Familiar Presentation ceremony."

"First, what is it?" Cole asked, sitting down and feeling how his uniform moved with him. He always hated new clothes being stiff or tight.

"Next Void-day, Princess Henrietta will be visiting the Academy to view all the familiars that were summoned when you were. Considering this is a rare event to meet with a member of the royal family, it has become a event for mages to show of skills or abilities their familiars have learned or have innately."

"Basically a big dog and pony show for young nobles to feel self important in front of royalty." Cole boiled it down to a one-liner with a snort. "Yeah, not happening."

"What do you mean 'not happening'?!" Louise cried out, slamming the palms of her hands on either side of the letter before her. "Every familiar is shown and performs!"

"Well, not this one." Cole dryly replied, pouring his own tea from the teapot nearby. "See, I have this thing about prancing about showing off my powers unless I'm capturing or killing the people I'm using it on." He took a sip of the tea before grimacing and setting it aside. "The less people that know what I can do, the less likely they are to mess with me."

Louise stared at the man seated across from her, silently churning through his words. "A counter to that is, if they don't know you even have powers, they don't know to stay away."

"Touche." Cole allowed but leaned back with a shake of his head. "But what would you have me do? What do familiars normally do?"

Louise leaned back, tapping her chin, as she really gave her familiar's question thought. "I guess it really depends on the specific familiar. If it is naturally good a flying, it might show agility by flying through rings or catching objects thrown into the air. If it's magical, it displays its abilities."

"And I'm human."

"With powers." Louise just as quickly countered, much to Cole's annoyance. "If you're worried about knowledge of your abilities falling into the wrong hands, let's think small and work our way upwards from there. What's your weakest ability?"

"Combat or utility?"

The question caused Louise to pause and blink. "Pardon?"

"Combat or utility?" Cole repeated, holding up a hand to spark above the table, casting blue to flash around the room.

"Why don't you explain both and we'll decide later which one… or maybe both." Louise decided.

"Okay, for attacks, I can shoot a blast of electricity from my hand that hits like a bullet. Not really draining and fast firing. Problem is, it's not that damaging."

"Not bad, especially if it's flashy. What about those 'utility' abilities?" Louise asked, leaning forward in interest.

"I can hover slightly to glide short distances and powerslide along cables." Cole answered before holding up a finger. "I can also form a shield, like when you tried to explode me that first day." He added with a smirk.

Louise's cheeks flushed as he looked away with a cough. "Well… let's work with those… Now while I'm finishing up this letter, why don't you change and think about how you'd use your powers."

oO0Oo

"Looks like we're done, Derf." Cole stated, holding the sword up to reflect the evening light.

"Feels like it, partner! Much obliged!" Derflinger cheerfully agreed. "It's nice to be clean and have a sharp edge once more. Now it's time for me to be used, partner!"

"Heh, maybe later. I'm not going to swing around a sharp sword like an idiot and cut my own leg off." Cole declined with a rueful shake of his head.

Derf just let out a quick chuckle before settling into its sheath. "It'll never happen, partner."

"Yeah, cause I'm not taking chances playing around with you at sundown." Cole rolled his eyes, gathering up his things into his backpack. "Come on, I'm getting some shuteye."

"It's a little early, isn't it, partner?" Derf commented as his wielder slung him onto his back.

"Yeah, but tomorrow's going to be a shitshow." Cole sighed, turning towards the main building, gaging distances and then breaking into a quick sprint. Leaping, his boots hit the wall and he almost ran up it for a split second, allowing the Conduit to grip his windowsill and pull himself up and into it.

"Oh my!" A young woman's voice gasped, jerking his head up in surprise.

It wasn't his room. It was Louise's and another woman was in there with her.

"Cole!? What are you doing?!" Louise's shocked voice broke out into the silence.

"Your window was open and mine wasn't." Cole replied, taking in the scene before him. Louise had moved her chair to be nearer to the unknown woman, refreshments on the table before them along with a sole lit candle for light. "Look, sorry about this. I'll leave you two to yourselves, I'm not gonna judge. Just remember that I'm trying to sleep next door, so keep it down. Okay?"

Louise looked confused at that but the violet haired woman just giggled behind a hand, her cheeks pinking slightly. Finally, it clicked in the pink haired girl's mind and she flushed with indignation. "You imbecile! This is the Princess!"

"Like I said, I'm not gonna judge. You and your princess have fun, just keep the noise down." Cole replied, moving towards the door to his bedroom.

"You utter..." Louise started to curse at her familiar before remembering said princess was sitting right next to her. "I mean, she is Princess Henrietta, future Queen of Tristain!"

Cole stopped and looked between his incensed master and the cloak wearing princess. Now that it was spelled out to him, he saw the small tiara and fine clothes hidden beneath the cloak. Knowing all that, he just shrugged. "Well, I guess your parents will be proud?"

"I am not bedding the Princess, you idiot!" Louise screamed out in exacerbation.

Multiple things happened next at near identical times. The princess burst out laughing at the byplay between her childhood friend and her familiar. The door to the room was burst through by a severe looking blonde with a pistol drawn, pointing it towards Cole. He, seeing this, shot a hand out to form a shield, yanking Louise behind him with the woman.

"Who are you?! Let the girl go!" "Drop the gun or this'll get ugly, fast!"

"Stop this at once!" Cole flicked his eyes from the blonde woman pointing a pistol at him towards the still seated princess, the humor on her face gone with the serious tone of her voice. "Agnes, be at ease."

"But Princess-"

"Agnes." Interrupted the woman, Agnes, calmly but firmly. "This is all a misunderstanding, so please be at ease."

"As you say." Agnes complied, though not agreed, with her ruler's request. Once she holstered the smooth bore pistol into her bandoleer, Cole dropped his shield to stand more relaxed.

"Let go of me at once, you utter imbecile!" Louise kicked him in the calf, causing him to release her with a hiss of pain. Stepping around her familiar, the young noble curtsied to the still seated royal. "I beg your forgiveness for my familiar's actions, Princess! I am truly sorry!"

"Oh, there is nothing to forgive, my dear Françoise." Henrietta stood and gathered her friend into a hug. "It was all a misunderstanding. An entertaining one at that!" She released her friend to hide a smile behind her hand.

"Mind telling me who the chick is who pointed a gun in my face?" Cole inquired, jerking a thumb towards the blonde who was still scowling at him. Cole saw Louise make a small gesture for his silence but ignored it.

"Agnes?" The violet haired princess offered up.

"Agnes de Milan, Lieutenant, Royal Musketeers." Agnes introduced herself with the barest hints of a nod.

"Cole MacGrath, Conduit, Vallere Meatshield." Cole replied, getting Louise to massage her temples in frustration.

"Meatshield?" Henrietta inquired in mild confusion, while Agnes let out a quiet snort of amusement. Cole grinned back, knowing she got the reference.

"What the idiot means is he's my bodyguard in addition to being my familiar." Louise growled out, sticking said familiar with a glare. She grit her teeth as he just quirked a hint of a grin at her. She'd have to pay him back for this headache somehow...

"Well, if that's it. I'm going to hit the sack. You guys should think about it too, we've got a big day tomorrow." He commented, finally opening the door to his room.

"You are correct, mister familiar, we do have an eventful day tomorrow." The princess agreed, turning to and grasping Louise's hands within hers. "I will forever treasure these times we shared, my dear Françoise. But I'm afraid I must retire for the night."

"See you around, sleep well." Cole bid the woman goodnight, walking through and closing the door between his and Louise's room.

If looks could kill, the door would have burst into flames from Louise's glare. It softened immediately when she turned back to her childhood friend. "If you would allow me, may I escort you to your room?"

"Oh, my dear Françoise..." Henrietta freed a hand to hide her mouth as she looked away shyly. "I would like nothing more but, alas, I must save myself for another!"

Seeing both Louise and Agnes' eyes widen broke her composure, leaving the two gapping at a giggling princess. Once she realised she'd been had, Agnes pinched the bridge of her nose with a sigh.

Louise sputtered in shock. "P-p-princess! I would never!" Realising the jest and its source, the small girl growled. "I'm going to kill him..."

"I found it refreshing." Henrietta disagreed with her friend as they exited into the hallway.

"It's disrespectful and deviant, is what it is!" The pink haired girl returned clenching her hands into fists. After a moment, she let out a breath, her shoulders relaxing slightly.

Henrietta just smiled warmly. "I think he will be good for you. And I don't mean as a potential husband." She quickly added when her friend shot her a betrayed look. "I mean as a friend and confidant. You seem more open since the last we met and it pleases me to see such."

"If you say so, Princess." Louise said, dubious of the other girl's words.

"I do say so." Henrietta confirmed with a warm smile before stopping and turning to her friend. "But this is where we shall part for the night. I wish you a good evening and know that I will be watching you tomorrow with rapt attention. Good evening, my dear Françoise."

"Good evening, Princess." Louise curtsied before waiting for Henrietta and Agnes to enter their rooms. Still, the princess talking about Cole's display tomorrow got the pink haired girl thinking. After a few moments, a wicked smile graced her lips as she giggled under her breath. "I do think I need to speak with a few people..."

oO0Oo

"And that was Patric de Constantin with his martingale 'Nadine' and what a lovely serenade that was." The conductor of events calmly announced to polite applause.

Agnes sighed from her position beside Princess Henrietta. "Another damn bird singing…"

"What matters is that he values his familiar." The violet haired young woman mildly chided her guard.

"As you say, Princess." The blonde replied seriously, looking over the assembled audience.

Henrietta took a sip of her lemonade before tapping it with her wand discretely to chill it. "Take heart, Agnes, that was the final avian familiar for today."

"Thank Brimir." Agnes breathed out, catching the princess hide a small smile with another sip of her drink.

"And now may I present Louise de la Vallière who will be presenting her familiar 'Cole'." The conductor of events announced, waving towards the stage where a pink haired girl stepped up towards the center.

"Princess, Lords, Ladies…" Louise paused with a curtsy before waving a hand back towards the interested crowd. "It is my pleasure to present my familiar, Cole MacGrath!"

The sound of electricity sparking drew confused looks from the audience before someone cried out in surprise and pointed upward. Circling the audience was a ring of poles, a thick wire strung between them all holding pendants of various colors. Atop it, Cole used a power slide to travel along it, spinning every so often to slide backwards before coming back around.

Henrietta had to admit that the man cut a rather dashing figure in the black and blue uniform he wore. The only thing he was missing was a rather nice hat, maybe with a feather in it.

"Blessed by an elemental for acts of Heroism in his home country of America, Cole was given innate abilities equal to Line Class Air spells."

With Louise telling the story, a plate was thrown into the air by a prepared servant. Not even slowing down his power slide, Cole shattered it with a shot of electricity from his hand, the quick zap and loud crack filling the air.

"What do you think of that, Agnes?" The princess inquired, obviously amused by the display.

The Musketeer snorted. "I could have done that with a pistol on the run."

"But you have to admit that it has a certain spectacle, don't you?" The princess countered with a smile.

"Flashy doesn't mean effective, Princess." Agnes disagreed, putting more stock in her hard earned abilities than some flashy gimmick.

"What you just witnessed was just the barest fraction of the blessing bestowed to him." Louise announced, smiling in anticipation. "For a true test, he asked that I recruit some of our serving staff to assist with providing targets." She waved to the commoners holding plates around the ring.

"He was so confident he could hit every plate they threw without one touching the ground, that he wagered one hundred Ècu to each servant participating…" Louise stated, getting a startled look from Cole and wide eyes from the assisting servants. "So confident he wouldn't miss any of the one hundred plates, I decided to make it two hundred to really challenge him!"

At that pronouncement ten more plate wielding servants stepped around corners to take up position around the ring.

"Well now… this is very entertaining, isn't it?" Henrietta mused, seeing the look on Louise's face. "I do think she's annoyed with her familiar."

"You know what? Fine!" Cole called out, glaring at his master. "Every plate has to go above the wire, though!"

"You heard him, helpers!" Louise crowed, clapping her hands in finality. "Ready in five! Four!"

The audience was holding their breath in anticipation as Louise counted down and the first plates flew into the air.

It was only six, Louise having directed the servants to start slow. She meant one or two but the thoughts of extra spending money filled their heads. Cole zapped them all out of the sky, flipping around to slide backwards to hit the last one.

The next volley was eight, with nine thru twelve on their heels, Cole zapping them all with his right hand held high.

Things were pretty manageable, until plate forty-seven was in the air, thrown at an arc instead of just straight up. Louise swore to remember that maid, planning to give her a little bonus, because it opened the floodgates for trickier throws that Cole had to deal with.

Then plate one-hundred-thirteen crossed in front of plate one-hundred-six, blocking Cole's shot. The Conduit cursed and aimed his left arm to shoot it down in a fraction of a second, but that put him behind the curve. This forced him to fire from both hands from then on.

That just encouraged the servants who kept trying to throw trickier shots while still abiding by the 'above the wire' rule. Cole was flipping back and forth, hands shooting off bolts of electricity so fast the audience couldn't see his fingers through the blue flashes.

Finally, each servant was down to their last plate, held in reserve by design.

Cole glanced around at the surrounding servants warily, gliding slowly over the wire while sweat dripped from his brow, breath coming in deep pants.

"Ready!" Louise raised her arm and the twenty servants readied their plates. Louise chopped her hand down. "Loose!"

From the audience's perspective, it looked like the sliding familiar took a deep breath and then pirouetted on the wire. Then lightning shot out like a dazzling spiral of blue, more shots missing than hitting but not a plate touched the ground in one piece.

The audience burst into applause and a standing ovation when Cole spun down and dropped onto the stage next to his master.

"That was for last night, wasn't it." He whispered out, trying to catch his breath. It was more a statement than question.

"Don't insult the princess." Was Louise's cheerful response as she hid it with a curtsy.

"Duly noted." Cole bowed alongside her before the conductor directed them to leave the stage. "I feel bad for the poor fool who has to follow that."

"I don't." Louise grinned, having read the order list the night before.

"And now, may I present Kirche von Anhalt-Zerbst and her familiar 'Flame'."

END OF CHAPTER - 3


	4. Alluring Desire

"Look, I'm not trying to be an ass here. Explosions are really useful in combat." Cole tried to reason with his shorter companion before chuckling. "There's a saying back home, 'If there's still a problem, you didn't use enough explosives'."

Louise took a breath, trying to keep her emotions in check. She knew her familiar was trying to help but it was still a touchy subject. "Cole… I can't even cast the simplest spell without it literally blowing up in my face." She came to a stop, turning towards the taller man who did the same. "Do you even understand what this means to me… my future?"

The blue eyed conduit quirked an eyebrow, looking at the girl before him. In the evening light, she looked younger than her age, lending an vulnerable air around the normally proud noble. "No, I don't. Care to explain it?"

Louise stood silently for a moment, looking into her familiar's eyes. After a bit, she let out a breath. "Of course you wouldn't know."

"I'm literally not from this dimension, why should I?" Cole replied with a shake of his head. "I've been doing my best to read up on things but I can't just magically know things." He paused with a thoughtful look. "Or is there?"

Louise snorted in derisive amusement. "No, there isn't. Else, why would the Academy exist?"

"Okay, you've got a point there, but that leaves us with you having to explain this to me."

Louise looked off towards the distant perimeter wall of the Academy, the sun having set behind it, leaving the sky a dazzling red and purple landscape. "Scripture states that magic is the gift Brimir gave to humans, to help defend against the elven threat. He gifted it to the most noble and valorous humans, who then later became the nobles of Halkegenia, the royal families even descending from Brimir himself."

"So, magic is a big deal around here."

Louise snorted in mild amusement at the underwhelming statement. "Yes, magis is a 'big deal'. It's so big that a noble child born without magic can be disowned if not mysteriously disappear without anyone saying a word." She waved off her familiar's widening eyes. "Luckily, if you consider it that, I can actually display magical ability, but I found out the option was discussed by some of Father's peers."

"That's really messed up."

"It is what it is." Louise stated, looking towards the fading glow. "But I'm still 'broken', even if I'm capable of magic. As the third daughter, that lowers my already diminished marriage value." The pink haired girl let out a breath. "Thankfully, my parents have successfully betrothed me to an aspiring minor noble who has distinguished himself by his service in Her Majesty's Griffin Knights."

"Wait, you're already engaged?" Cole blinked in shock, trying to equate the young looking woman before him to that fact.

"Vice-Count Jean-Jacques Francis de Wardes." Louise named her betrothed, still looking at the area of the Academy where the event was held just earlier that day. The staff had cleared it all away, leaving just the stone platform they used for a stage.

"What are your thoughts on the engagement?" Cole leaned back against the main academy building, arms crossed.

"He's handsome, dashing and valorous, at least my memories say so. He's risen in the ranks quickly, so he's ambitious. He's around your age, maybe a little older. My parents think he's a good suitor, considering my situation." Louise listed off, still looking off into the distance.

"You're evading." Cole statement pierced out before she could continue rambling, her eyes closing as she went silent. The adult of the pair just let her think, listening to the birds taking flight from the trees just outside the walls.

The sky grew darker as the they stood silently, an uneasy tenseness from the younger of the pair.

"I'm… apprehensive." Louise finally admitted, finally looking her familiar in the eyes. "Just after it was found out I was… 'broken', he agreed to be my betrothed. That alone stopped all discussion about how I should be disowned and unnamed." She hugged herself with the memories. "When he visited, he was kind and polite to me. It was… nice… different. He endeared himself to me and my parents well."

Cole let out a non-committal hum, waiting for the shoe to drop. Now that the flow had started, it came in a rush.

"I'm just not really to be… to be a wife." Louise admitted, looking towards the ground. "If I marry him, I'll be the first daughter to be wed and I'm the youngest."

"So, you're feeling rushed." Cole summaries for the girl.

"I suppose." She hedged, letting out a breath. "Thought, I feel… know I'm just a token trading hands… a 'broken' token, at that."

"Let's 'fix' you, then." The Conduit cut through her thoughts with that simple declaration, the man pushing off the wall to place a hand atop her head. He fully expected the shocked look in his master's eyes, followed by the fury of someone insulted by such a comment.

"You think I haven't been trying?! That I've been just having tea parties and reading poetry?!" She seethed, slapping his hand from her head. "I have worked harder that anyone I know, save my own mother, to perfect my spellcasting! I've spent hours studying the spells, practicing the movements and memorizing the words." She stomped forward to poke her familiar in his blue and black coat. "Any yet, everything blows up in my face! Literally!"

"So, let's figure out what you haven't tried and try those things." Cole replied, poking her in the forehead, getting her back a step. "But you need to relax. Rome wasn't built in a day, so figuring out your problems aren't going to happen tonight either. Maybe all you need is a different frame of mind."

"This topic is done for the night." Louise tersely stated, turning away from the man.

Cole just shrugged, turning as he spotted movement in the distance. "That's fine. We'll pick it back up some other time. Not really something we should be talking about in the public anyways."

Louise followed his line of sight, letting out a low growl at what she saw. "Zerbst."

Indeed, the Conduit could just barely see the shade of vibrant crimson hair on the taller of the two figures, the shorter having a shade of ice blue. "You really don't like that girl, do you."

"Her family are rivaled to mine. The Zerbst stealing anything they can get their grubby hands on and then trying to live like actual nobles, instead of upstart Germanian merchants." Louise sniffed in contempt.

"Yeah, but that doesn't explain your reactions to Kirche herself." Cole pointed out, watching the two students wandering towards them.

"I… just look at her!" Louise exclaimed, waving a hand towards the Germanian. "She flaunts herself like a common harlot, waving those flotation devices in everyone's face! She's a deviant!"

Kirche also had decent hearing, considering how she startled, as if noticing the mage and familiar for the first time. "Valliere! Spending a little alone time with the man who won you the Princess's favor?"

"Just planning out our training plan for the next few weeks." Cole responded, placing a hand on the pink haired girl's shoulder to silence her… though it didn't last.

"Maybe you should try it sometime, Zerbst. Your showing was beyond dreadful." Louise cattily commented on her rival's performance.

The narrowing of the endowed young woman's eyes showed the barb struck true. "Enjoy your victory, Valliere, for I sha-"

Time slowed to a crawl as the building above the Germanian exploded outward in a spray of stone blocks and dust.

Cole's legs coiled slightly, readying his dash forward, his arms clenching to move.

Louise's eyes widened as she took in the tons of masonry starting a descending arc.

Kirche started ducking down, eyes looking for the cause and danger.

The blue haired girl started drawing a wand, her head already turning skyward.

Time returned to normal, Cole shooting forward with a yelled warning. Throwing his hands out, a shockwave shot into the air, directed at the debris about to crush the two girls. Kirche started looking up at her coming death, her red eyes widening in fear. Her companion finished drawing a wand, pointing it up towards the falling stones above her.

The dust cleared away, showing a giant stone fist protruding from the building before slowly receding. Louise's lips moved as she saw this, along with everything else, but nothing escaped.

The shockwave penetrated the wave of debris, suspending it's downward flow. For a split moment, the tons of masonry calmly floated, as if it were just oddly shaped clouds.

"Shatter." The blue haired girl softly intoned, jabbing her glowing wand upward.

A shard of ice formed within the mass of stone. An instant later, it exploded outward, shoving the rock aside like a drop of soap on an oil filled puddle of water. The very next, it shattered into a flurry of snowflakes that melted in the evening air.

"Look out!"

Louise's warning rolled out just before a deep rumble rocked the ground. Shooting his eyes towards the source, Cole found a giant dark shadow filling the shadows, the last hints of the sun revealing the head of the giant stone golem.

And the mage riding on its shoulder.

"Engage me at your own peril!" The mage warned in a distorted voice, the blank mask and grey cloak blocking view of any distinguishing features.

"You three get out of here!" Cole ordered, moving between the girls and the enemy mage.

"Fireball!" The Germanian's voice called out, an orb of flames flying out to impact against the golem's defensively raised hand. "A Zerbst does not flee a common thief!"

"Fouquet." Kirche's companion stated, holding back from casting her own retaliatory spell.

"Fireball!" Another mage cried out, an explosion blowing a hole into the Academy building behind the golem but disturbing Fouquet's cloak, showing the tan pants and boots beneath.

"You were warned!" The thief yelled out, pointing a wand towards Cole and the students behind him. The blocks of rubble on the ground around the golem shuddered before shooting towards them.

"Partner, use me!"

Cole barely registered Derflinger's voice, hand already grasping the handle of the magical sword strapped to his back. Letting out a wordless yell, Cole drew the blade in a downward cut before cleaving the air repeatedly.

Louise's watched in rapt attention as her familiar drew the sword, the glowing tip leaving lines of blue written in the air as Cole almost danced between the projectiles. Each block was sliced through with unerring precision, two slabs falling lifelessly to the ground from each cut.

Then there was stillness.

"You've signed your own death warrant." Cole's growling voice informed the stoic thief, the grounded man glowering upwards at the mage.

"So you say." Forquet seemed unconcerned, the stone golem he stood upon pointing an arm at the Conduit as it took a step to the left. Cole's eyes shot wide as he barely had enough time to bring up his left hand, the stream of stone bullets violently impacting the electromagnetic shield.

"Fireball!" Kirche cast again, the orb splashing against the chest of the golem, illuminating Fouquet for a moment. "Now, Tabetha!"

"Icefall." The blue haired girl, Tabetha, intoned her spell. Ice shards formed above the magical thief but the mage was one step ahead, the arms of the golem already moving to shield the thief.

"Fireball!" Another explosion flashed out into the night, this time from the exterior wall far in the distance.

"Now, partner!" Derf called out as Cole dropped the shield to fire off three electric missiles.

"Where are you aiming!?" Kirche demanded, both to her rival and the man fighting with her, seeing the glowing blue orbs streak wide of the golem who was already recovering from Tabetha's spell.

"I've done this before!" Cole yelled back, pushing up on the enemy mage's construct even as the missiles flew past.

"You won't again!" Fouquet declared, the golem slamming a hand down towards the approaching man.

"Icewall." Tabetha announced, a column of ice arresting the falling hand, the golem's other hand already moving to block the next attack against the mage. A moment later, a shot of electricity impacted off the stone, not even leaving a scorch mark.

"Pitiful." The thief sneered before spotting the man's smirk.

"Get fucked!"

Fouquet dove off the golem, the barest reflection of the returning missiles giving just enough warning. Even as the first golem had large chunks blown out of it, a new hand caught the thief, a second golem emerging from the Academy walls. "I grow tired of your interference, Mister Familiar! I have what I came for, but if you insist on hindering me, I won't hesitate to test the Staff of Destruction on you and your friends!"

"Cole, you can't let her escape!" Louise commanded, worry in her words. "The Staff can kill dragons!"

"No escape." Tabetha agreed, breathing deeply as her willpower started flagging, flinging out another spear of ice that shattered against the new golem's shoulder.

"Fireball!" A third explosion rocked the field of combat, this time hitting its target, the second golem's right leg disappearing in a cloud of dust and rock.

"Crush them!" Fouquet commanded, as the thief rode the golem in its backwards fall until jumping free at the last moment. The original golem, still missing chunks of itself, started charging the four combatants.

"We have to stop it!" Kirche cried out, a fireball already impacting the golem for minimal damage, even as it plowed through a half formed wall of ice.

"Partner!" Derf spoke from Cole's hand. "Use me!"

"Graahh!" Louise heard Cole's growling yell rolled out as he raised the sword for a one-handed overhead slice. Her eyes widened as she witnessed the conduit's eyes flash, the sword transforming from steel with a glowing edge to a blade ten yards long, each inch blazing an electric blue.

Then it flashed down, a crescent of annihilation, obliterating everything that touched its edge.

An instant later, the charging golem crashed to the ground, cleaved in twain straight down the center of the construct.

"Die!"

The cry preceded the roar of fire, as the Staff of Destruction activated, the dragon slaying attack flying towards the still recovering Conduit. Cole could only watch his doom rocket towards him, his muscles not responding quick enough to dodge.

"Icewall!" Tabitha yelled, forcing the last bits of her willpower into the spell, even as Cole let his body drop and twist to the side.

The projectile hit the thin wall, exploding into a cone of shrapnel and ice shards that tore into the Conduit's body. A brief moment of utter agony assaulted Cole before everything faded to sweet embrace of nothingness.

All the while, a girl's voice screaming his name echoed through the darkness…

oO0Oo

Blue eyes snapped open with a sharp gasp of air, the strong antiseptic stinging his nose while lingering pain pointed out injuries that hadn't fully healed yet.

"Ah! You're awake!" A surprised woman's voice called out, steps heading towards him. "How are you feeling, Mister MacGrath?"

"Like my stomach got turned to chunky salsa." Cole growled in discomfort, the sharp pain leaving behind a dull ache. Sitting up, he let the sheet fall to reveal his bandaged stomach.

"I'm not sure what 'salsa' is, but you were seriously injured. Frankly, I'm surprised at how fast you've recovered." The older woman mused, tapping a wand against his bandaged torso.

"Yeah, I get that... a lot." Cole replied offhandedly, looking around the room. "Where's Louise and the others? Are they okay?"

"Oh, yes. They're fine." The healer said with a small frown. "They stayed here most the night and wouldn't leave. I finally just set up some spare beds for them."

"Where are they now?" Cole asked, seeing the beds empty along with all the chairs.

"I believe they are with the Headmaster, though I don't know for sure."

Cole closed his eyes at that, sending out an electrosense pulse. His eyes snapped open an instant later. "Where's my stuff?!"

"Your what?" The woman flinched back in confusion.

"My pants, boots… my stuff!" Cole clarified, jerking his head around to search for the items.

"Oh, a member of the servant staff picked them up and took them to be cleaned and mended. I can go find another servant to fetch you clean clothes, if you'd like."

"There's no time!" Cole declared, pushing out of bed, feeling the cold tile beneath his feet. He belatedly noticed that he at least had his boxers on, as the sheet fully fell from his body.

"Mister MacGrath! You shouldn't be moving about!" The woman cried out in shocked concern, trying to guide him back into the bed.

Cole just pushed her out of his way, slamming open the infirmary door and sprinting into the hallway. He ignored the shocked and startled looks and shrieks he received from the students he dodged and weaved through. "Get out of my way!"

With his bellow, a path opened up down the center of the hallway, allowing him to sprint towards his destination.

Bursting through the first door, he found the empty secretary's office. Turning to the left, he rushed up the the double doors and kicked them open, wood shattering as the latch tried to hold it shut but failed.

For the barest fraction of an instant, Cole saw an old wizard behind a desk, three girls seated before him and, finally, his target.

Arms flashing forward, an electromagnetic wave flew out, striking the headmaster's secretary dead on to suspend her in midair. She barely got a startled shriek out before Cole's fist rammed into her gut, slamming her back down to the floor, a wave of power shackling her limbs to the tile.

"What is the meaning of this?!" An old but powerful voice shook the room, the wizard standing from his desk, staff in hand.

"Catching a thief." Cole replied, patting the woman down, divesting her of a few rings, a necklace and, most importantly, a wand.

"Cole?" Louise's confused but relieved voice called out before she was interrupted.

"You mean Miss Fouquet." Osmond stated, not questioned.

"You don't seem surprised, Headmaster." Kirche pointed out, crossing her arms under her breasts, a terse look on her face.

"Because I already knew she was Fouquet the Crumbling Earth." The white bearded man waved off the comment as inconsequential, moving to stand over the incapacitated thief.

She just coughed as she got her breathing under control, shooting the headmaster a baleful glare. "You mean *cough* you knew?!"

"Of course I knew." Osmond scoffed, leaning on his staff. "You think I'd not investigate my new secretary?"

"But my past was-"

"Well made, I admit. I never questioned it." Osmond agreed with the thief, while Cole scowled at both of them nearby.

"Wait, you mean you knew she was going to attack the Academy and you did nothing about it?" Cole growled out, getting shocked looks from two of the girls, Tabetha just stoically watching the happenings.

"Why didn't you arrest her?!" Louise demanded, her faith in the headmaster shaken by the revelation.

"Because we didn't know what she was looking for." Osmond answered, reaching to his desk to retrieve his pipe. "We knew it was contained in the vault but quite a few things are contained there."

"How? I made sure I was alone whenever I examined it!" Fouquet demanded to know before glaring at the Conduit still standing over her. "And how did you know?"

"You don't need to know." Cole replied with a smirk, crossing his arms over his bandaged chest. "Just be thankful I wanted you alive, after shooting me last night."

"As for how I deduced your identity, you were very careful in concealing it, I'll admit. But you, as a secretary, seemed just too interested in recording the types of security wards installed on the vault. It could have been just an orderly mind wanting everything written down but to make sure, I had you followed." Old Osmond explained, a little mouse appearing on his shoulder with a squeak.

"That damn rodent!" She cursed before letting out a sigh of defeat.

"But what about the Staff of Destruction?" Kirche wondered out loud. "Where is it now, if she's Fouquet."

"Dangerous." Tabetha chipped in her concern with a single word.

"Yes, that does seem the most pressing question now, doesn't it." Osmond agreed, puffing at his pipe in consideration.

Cole just shook his head, placing a hand against his bandaged side. "I wouldn't worry about it. If I'm right, it's only a single use weapon."

"But that can't be right… It's said that the Headmaster used the Staff of Destruction to kill a dragon! That's why it was sealed away!" Louise stated, looking from Cole to the Headmaster.

Cole just watched the old wizard puff away at his pipe before taking a glance at the thief prone before him, seeing the look of utter defeat on her face.

"The books have a way of… modifying the truth, sometimes." Old Osmond finally stated, stroking his beard as he thought. "It wasn't I who used the Staff of Destruction to kill the beast, it was a strange knight in green armor. And it wasn't the same Staff that our Fouquet used last night."

The Headmaster's words seemed to solidify something in Cole's mind. "Hey, Headmaster. Did he talk like this? ['What the hell is that? Die, you son of a bitch!]?" He asked, using his native tongue and dialect.

The old man hummed, thinking back to his memories. "Maybe not those words, but it sounds very familiar."

"Okay, that opens a big can of worms but at least I have an idea who it was and generally what the 'Staff' is." Cole informed them with a sigh. "It's a weapon from my country but it's useless now that she used it on me."

"I had suspected, as the unknown knight had two of them on his person." Osmond stated before shaking his head. "Sadly, the beast slew the knight before it finally succumbed to its wounds. We buried the Staff he used with him, a marker declaring his bravery in saving the village."

"So what do we do with her?" Kirche wondered, gesturing towards the defeated woman.

"If you will let her loose so I may bind her, we will send notice to the capital of her capture. I presume that they will send an escort to bring her back to Tristania to be tried for her crimes." Old Osmond informed them with a sigh. "Such a shame, too. You were such a wonderful secretary."

"Save me your platitudes, you old letch." Fouquet bit back, grunting as ropes snaked around her arms and torso to bind her.

"I believe this concludes your involvement in this matter, students and Mister MacGrath." Old Osmond intoned, watching as his mouse familiar scurried through the damaged doors. "I bid you all a good day, although you may be called upon to answer questions at a later date. For now, rest and relax for today, you will be excused from your instruction till tomorrow."

"Thank you, Headmaster." Louise replied with a nod, standing with the other girls.

"Oh, and Mister MacGrath, if you would please some speak with me at a later date. I'm very interested in this country of yours."

Cole could see the look in the old wizard's eyes, a shrewd gleam that spoke of many questions. "Yeah, some other time."

"Of course, of course. Good day to you." The wizard dismissed them, turning towards the tied up thief.

oO0Oo

Cole felt a lot better now that he'd gotten dressed in his more casual clothes, though his new jacket was still being laundered. He found himself relaxing with the three teenagers he fought beside, sharing some lemonade at a small table near a fountain. It was a rather relaxing location, though he could see the questions threatening to burst forth from the girls. "Go on, but one at a time."

"How did you know about Miss Longview being Fouquet?" Kirche asked, getting a sour look from Louise who wanted to ask first.

"I can sense people through the electricity in their body." Cole explained, running a line from his hand to his elbow before clenching it into a fist. "Each person's body is different, so I can mark them as friendly, neutral or hostile."

"So you marked her as hostile during the fight and she couldn't disguise it." Kirche mused, wondering at the ability.

"Pretty much." Cole agreed with a shrug, taking a drink.

"How are you… not dead?" Louise hesitantly asked, eyeing her familiar's side. She couldn't see his skin through his clothes, but her mind's eye could picture the mangled flesh and blood she'd seen the night before.

"Enhanced healing, regeneration, whatever you want to call it…" Cole answered, trying to get into details before shrugging. "I've always healed quickly but since gaining my powers, it's only gotten stronger. Give me some electricity to absorb and I could be healed up in minutes."

"Useful." Tabitha complimented the quirk of his powers.

"To heal that quickly from the Staff of Destruction. You must be powerful, indeed." Kirche agreed, eyeing the man relaxing across from her before looking towards the Valliere girl sitting next to her.

"Can we stop calling it that?" Cole let out a sigh, massaging the bridge of his nose. "It's a rocket launcher." Seeing the blank looks on the girls' faces, he sighed. "I don't know the specifics but just think of it like a fireball thats contained in a metal shell to be fired off anytime by anyone."

"Stealing for who?" Tabetha wondered quietly.

"That's a good question… A thief like Fouquet wouldn't just steal a dangerous weapon like that for herself. Who was she stealing it for?" Kirche expanded the thought, tapping the table.

"Why would anyone want it?" Louise counter asked her rival, sipping her sour drink.

"It's a weapon of war." Cole answered with a wave of his hand. "We do know that whoever wanted it didn't know what it really was, though. Could have been planning to use it as a trump card."

"But a Triangle class fire spell would have done more damage to a larger area." Kirche countered that idea but blinked when the man across from her shook his head.

"If I'm right, it was for penetrating armor."

"Why would someone need something like that for a knight?" Louise asked incredulously.

Cole chuckled at the idea, even as he remembered it flying right towards him last night. "No, I mean armor five to ten inches thick… if not more!"

"But… that's as thick as airship armor!" Louise cried out, face draining of color.

"Just think what would happen if it hit me directly." He nodded towards the silent ice mage to his left. "Without that barrier to take the impact, you'd be picking pieces of me out of the grass."

"Ung…" The red haired girl gagged at the thought. "Please don't speak like that! It was horrid enough seeing what your injury looked like as it was!"

"Disturbing." Tabetha added in, Louise nodding as she looked a little green around the edges.

"There's a lot of things that could've gone wrong last night…" Cole stated before recanting. "No, there were a lot of things that 'did' go wrong last night and I think we need to fix that."

Louise didn't like the way her familiar was looking at her. "What are you going on about?!"

"I told you before that explosions can be useful, but not being able to aim makes them useless." He said, getting her to grimace in remembrance. "Then there's the fact that you just stood there without acting for the first bit. Yeah, I can get that you don't normally get into fights but we're going to train that combat paralysis out of you, whether you like it or not."

"Excuse you?!" Louise indignant voice cried out.

"Prudent." Tabetha chimed in, poking her crimson haired friend in the shoulder.

"What?! I hit where I was aiming, thank you very much!" Kirche defended herself.

"Rocks."

Kirche winced as the very beginning, the falling stones almost crushing her, flashed through her mind. "But I'm a lover, not a fighter!"

"You Germanian deviant." Louise said with a snort.

Kirche just pushed her chest out with a smirk. "Well, if you have it, use it, Valliere."

Watching the two girls start to bicker and insult each other, Cole leaned towards Tabetha, who'd pulled out a book from under her cloak. "Is this going to be a normal thing?"

"Yes."

oO0Oo

"Ready?" Cole asked, looking out towards the open area before the treeline. "Go!"

A series of explosions sounded out, birds bursting out of the trees to escape the carnage.

"Time!"

Peace returned to the area, only the sounds of settling debris and heavy breathing preventing silence.

"Five shots with two hits in ten seconds." Cole stated, looking over the target range. A moment later, a tree behind a missed target finally lost its battle with gravity, crashing onto one of the targets. "Correction, three hits."

"I don't… need your… charity!" Louise panted out, using a kerchief to wipe the sweat dripping down her face.

"Take ten while I set up more targets." Cole directed, the girl flopping down onto a blanket spread out on the grass. A moment later, she had a glass of cool water pressed into her hand. "Thank you." She barely got out before gulping it down.

"You're welcome, Miss Valliere." Siesta cheerfully replied as she knelt on the same blanket, watching Cole stake down more targets in the distance. "You've been working really hard at this."

"Weakness for a Valliere is inexcusable!" Louise replied with a gasp, handing the empted glass back to the maid. "I've found myself wanting and I will fix it!" She started to stand but Cole's hand pressed her back down to sit.

"I told you to take ten, Louise." Cole chided the pink haired girl. "You can't cast on an empty tank."

"Fine!" The girl sulked, finding a small triangle of sandwich placed into her hands. "Quit making me eat! You're making me fat!" She yelled at the man before her.

Cole just quirked an eyebrow, looking down at the slip of a girl before him. "It's a sandwich, half a sandwich, not cake. Eat it."

"Hate you so much, right now." Louise muttered before biting into the chicken sandwich.

"We've been at this for over two hours." Cole replied with a roll of his eyes. "I'm actually surprised at how long you've kept it up."

"What? You expected me to faint, like the last time we tried this?" Louise almost snarled at her familiar.

"First, that was the entire point of the exercise." Cole stated, getting a growl from the agitated teen. "We didn't know your limit, so you cast till you drop. Now we know you can go full blast for two minutes five seconds before passing out. Second, I didn't expect you to pass out, I expected you to try and cast but have it fizzle once your tank ran dry."

"Willpower!" Louise growled before drinking from the fresh glass of water placed in her hand. "Mages use willpower to cast."

"Whatever." Cole waved off the description. "But we now know you can go for over two hours if you pace yourself." He gestured down range to the new targets. "We've also been working on your accuracy under stress and casting speed, killing three birds with one stone."

"Accuracy?" Louise muttered incredulously. "I can barely hit the forest behind the targets!"

"You have to start somewhere." Cole replied with a shrug. "This is all just a crash course to fast track your training."

"Stop using your stupid idioms! They don't mean anything to me!" Louise complained, feeling belittled by everything.

"Okay, look… we have to figure out what we're starting with before we can figure out where to focus your training." Cole rephrased his frame of logic.

"Why didn't you just say that in the first place?!" The agitated noble girl hissed before taking a breath. "You know what, I'm done! I'm going to go take a long hot bath and think of anything but this stupid training!" She yelled the last in frustration, flinging her wand out.

An explosion sent the ground shuddering, a large crater now found where two of the targets were a moment before.

"Nice shot." Cole nodded in appreciation.

"Was aiming to the one to the left…" Louise stated in dejection before pushing herself to standing. "I'm going to bathe then go to bed."

Cole just watched the pink haired girl stagger off towards the main Academy dormitory building.

"She's trying really hard." Siesta commented as she started packing up.

"Yeah, she is." Cole agreed with a small smile on his lips. "I'm actually kinda proud of her. Sure, she'll complain about it but she hasn't turned me down yet on training."

"Speaking of the training, how did you think of all this?" The purple haired maid asked as she started folding the picnic blanket.

"It's the training I went through when I got my powers, more or less." Cole explained, picking up the packed basket. "It was a crazy situation, so I had to train like crazy just to have a chance to survive."

Siesta paused, a concerned look growing across her face, clasping her hands to her chest. "You don't think there will be any more trouble, do you?"

"Don't know but something in my gut tells me this isn't a 'one time' thing." Cole answered with a frown. "I looked into Fouquet and she mainly focused on relics and jewelry, things a thief could pawn off for quick cash or had a buyer lined up for it already."

"But you caught her, so why are you still worried?"

"Cause she was stealing a weapon this time, and not some 'put on the wall above your fireplace' decoration but a weapon she needed to know how to use." Cole replied, scratching at his short brown hair. "So, there's two ideas I can think of. One; she wanted to keep it and use it herself, but why would a thief need a weapon that shoots explosions when she's a powerful earth mage? Two; someone hired her to steal it specifically because it was a dangerous weapon capable of killing a dragon in one shot."

"But why would 'they' want it?" Siesta asked, cocking her head to the side slightly.

"Like I said, probably not for a decoration." Cole answered, resuming the trek to the kitchen of the Academy. "But even if nothing comes of this, I figure that the training'll be good for Louise. Why not take advantage of it."

oO0Oo

The next day, Cole found himself back in the Academy library, though instead of a large tome before him, he had sheets of paper spread out all over the large table.

"Ah! There you are, Cole." A man's voice broke through his thoughts, getting the Conduit to look up to see Professor Colbert smiling at him, a large book under his arm.

"Hey, Professor! Grab a seat. Sorry about the mess." Cole greeted the man, gathering up the papers into a loose pile to the side.

"Not a worry. It's always heartening to see research occurring, though that just so happens to be why I sought you out!" The balding man grinned as he set the tome on the table, opening it to a tab and spinning it around to face the Conduit. "Thanks to Derflinger, I was able to find out just what your runes mean." He explained, tapping the right page.

"Gandalfr; Left Hand of God; legendary warrior capable of using any weapon to defend his master..." Cole read aloud, his eyebrows raising with each word. "The Holy Brimir?" He looked up at the professor. "Is this real?"

"It's a translation of a memorial marker a researcher from Romalia had found on an expedition chartered by the Pope of the time. They were trying to literally follow Brimir's footsteps and found this." The older man tapped the runes illustrated on the page. At that, Cole took off his glove and held his hand near the book. "A perfect match."

"So, what? Does this mean Louise is the second coming of Brimir?" Cole wondered, looking at the text again.

He missed Colbert freezing in shock at that thought, but didn't miss the hushed warning. "Be very careful about saying things like that! She could be tried for heresy if the Church heard you saying that."

Cole looked to the older man, seeing the gravity in the situation. "Okay, but I'm just trying to figure out a connection here." He said, tapping the book. "I mean, this shit doesn't just happen, does it?"

"I don't know." Colbert admitted, adjusting his glasses. "All we know for certain is that you are the Gandalfr, which should give you expertise with weapons."

"And that Brimir had a Gandalfr as a familiar." Cole tacked on, the professor nodding with a frown. "So, have you found any other Gandalfr people?"

"No, I haven't." Colbert replied, gesturing towards the book again. "Outside of this, nothing. Though I did notice that the books made after this version omitted this passage."

"So, not only is it rare, someone's trying to hide it." Cole reasoned, leaning back and crossing his arms.

"So it seems."

"Okay, let's look at this from a different angle. Who was Brimir? Not the spiritual junk but the real person." Cole asked in a hushed voice, seeing Colbert's frown at the topic. "I mean, it says he spread magic to humans, so was he good at all the elements or what?"

Colbert was silent for a few long moments, the two men locking eyes with each other in the tense silence. Finally, the older man leaned in, his voice just barely above a whisper. "He was a void mage… the 'first' void mage, said to be able to destroy entire villages with how great his explosions were."

Silence settled over the table once more as Cole took in those words. "You think she's a void mage."

Flipping the tome closed and picking it up, Colbert gave a short bow to the still seated Conduit. "Pardon me, but I must be on to my next appointment."

oO0Oo

"And you're absolutely sure he said that?"

"It was more implied but yeah, he basically said you're a void mage." Cole answered the agitated and confused girl. "Thing is, I don't think it really changes anything."

"Why do you say that?! I just found my element!" Louise demanded, disbelief in her voice at her familiar's statement.

"But can you do anything with it other than what everyone already knows you can do; cause explosions?" Cole shot straight to the point. "That's what I mean. Unless they've got a spellbook of void spells for you to read or something, nothing's really changed."

"I… I see your point, though I feel… not relieved but it's good to know I wasn't at fault for my spells failing." Louise said with a sigh, fidgeting her wand with her fingers. "But where do I go from here?"

"We continue your training." Cole answered the simi-rhetorical question with a shrug. "We'll keep working your explosions until you can do them in your sleep."

"I highly doubt I'll have to train for that feat." Louise dryly replied, only to blink at her familiar's shrug.

"You'd think that... I did too, up until I zapped a guy trying to mug me while I was sleeping."

"You're joking." Her disbelief evident in her voice and body language.

"Nope." He replied with a grin. "Fell asleep in the park and woke up to the guy already shackled to the ground."

"While amusing, I still doubt I'll need such a skill." Louise stated with a grin on her lips.

"Yeah, but we need to keep at it." Cole said with a more serious tone. "Hell, I've already ordered some supplies to make a moving target rig."

"You are finding new ways to destroy my self-esteem. Joy." Louise complained with a grimace.

"Heh, you're a big girl. You'll get over it." Cole just chuckled, patting her on the head, only to laugh when she slapped at his arm.

"I'll use you as a moving target if you don't stop touching my hair!" The pink haired girl growled out, getting the man to chuckle more.

"You'd be more a danger to everyone else but me! But we're going t-urk!" Cole's words cut off as he was pulled off balance. "The hell!" He looked over to find a red lizard tugging at his sleeve with its mouth.

"Isn't that Zerbst's familiar? Flame, was it?" Louise asked, wondering why it was dragging her own familiar away.

"Come on! Don't tear the jacket, you overgrown lizard!" Cole was forced to move with the salamander or else be drug along. "I get it! You want me to follow you! Let me go and I'll walk!"

"What in Brimir's name is wrong with him?" Louise wondered, as the familiar released Cole with a happy, warbled chirp.

"Don't know, but we better follow or else I get the feeling he'll drag me there." Cole sighed as Flame let another chirp out, waddling into the main building with the two humans following. "Who knows, maybe Kirche fell down a well or something."

"Fell down a what?"

"Nevermind… it's a joke from back home." Cole sighed again, though for a different reason.

"Ah." Louise let it drop as they started following the salamander up the stairs. "Wait, this is the student's dormitory floor."

"Maybe she found something about Fouquet and has it in her room?" Cole ventured, thinking on his own research in the days since the thief attacked the Academy.

"I suppose but sending her familiar to retrieve us is ridiculous. She should have notified a maid to deliver a message." Louise scoffed, crossing her arms and tapping her arm in irritation.

"Well, we're here, I guess." Cole pointed out, seeing the lizard familiar hopping outside his master's door. "Let's figure out what she wants." With that, Cole knocked on the door, getting a muffled reply from with to enter. Grasping the brass handle, he twisted and pushed…

And froze as his mind tried to comprehend what he saw.

There, laying on a bed covered with flowers, was Kirche von Anhalt-Zerbst… in sheer, lacy black lingerie, the candles surrounding the room giving her large tracts of bare skin an ethereal glow.

"There you are, my darling hero." She cooed in a rich smoky voice, gesturing for him to 'come hither'. "Let me show my gratitude for your heroism."

"You… You Germanian harlot!" Louise pushed Cole inward to get through the door and glare at her rival. "How dare you try to seduce my familiar!"

"Why, Louise, I have more gratitude than one man can handle. If you wish to join with me, you only have to ask." Kirche's sultry voice informed the girl, a teasingly inviting grin on her cherry red lips.

Now, Cole knew he'd never been deemed the sharpest knife in the drawer but he wasn't stupid and he wasn't playing this game. He leaped for the door just as his little pink haired master went nuclear.

He almost made it.

END OF CHAPTER - 4


End file.
